On the Eve of the Rest of Their Lives
by Deadlydollies13
Summary: It had been a year after the almost-Armageddon. Well, it had actually been only nine months. Both had told themselves that they were content the way things were, just the two of them. That is, until one day, when a college student named Eve enters their lives. As if they already didn't have an Adam to worry about. I do not own anything from Good Omens
1. Eve and the Bookshop of Knowledge

One day, nine months after the failed Apocalypse, a knock came at the bookshop door.

Crowley and Aziraphale were situated in the back corner; Aziraphale at his desk and Crowley sprawled out on his sofa.

At first, the knock was timid. Aziraphale, not wanting to deal with customers just as he always did, ignored it and hoped that they would take a hint that the shop was closed.

But the pounding grew louder, more desperate. The angel sighed, excused himself, and went to the door. On opening it, he was met with a short young woman who was shivering in the pouring rain. Her eyes behind her foggy, soaked glasses were desperate. "Oh dear. Are you all right?"

Her voice was shaky and quiet, and Aziraphale had to strain to hear her over the downpour. "T - the University Library didn't have the books I - I needed and they s - said that this place h - h - had them."

Aziraphale could see the backpack straps over her shoulders. She was a student. An unfortunate student who had gotten caught in the rain and would probably catch her death if Aziraphale left her exposed to the elements any longer.

"Well, do come in." Damn this empathetic heart. He smiled and stepped aside so that the girl could come in. Even her steps were shaky, as she was soaked to the bone. When she stepped inside the warm bookshop and Aziraphale closed the door, he saw her shoulders relax. She let out a sigh of relief. He noticed a few things emanating from the girl, as angels could see auras just as witches could: along with the chill, she was shy and anxious.

"What were the books you needed, dear girl?" he asked.

The girl fished a crumpled up index card with a list from her pocket, damp, but still legible.

Aziraphale bustled about the shop, gathering the books from her list. He placed them on the table near the hearth.

"Thank you, I promise I won't take long at all." Her steps were careful, so as not to track water all over the place. What she didn't notice was that with each step, she was drying off. By the time she reached the sofa, her clothes were practically dry, but her hair still damp.

When she went to clean the water droplets off of her glasses, she was surprised to find that her shirt was completely dry. It wasn't even cold, and she knew that there was no way that standing inside by the fire for three minutes did the trick.

"Don't rush." He smiled before walking back to his desk, where Crowley was giving him a questioning look. They were thankfully out of earshot from the girl but still spoke in whispers.

"What was that all about?" Crowley asked.

"She's a student, and was freezing half to death out there in the rain." Aziraphale was too big-hearted and Crowley swore it would get him in more trouble than he could handle one day. They both glanced at the girl, who was being ever-so-gentle in turning the pages of the antique books. They were books on architecture and restoration and how to preserve old materials. They were books Aziraphale had collected because they were different, but had sat on the shelves collecting dust for decades as no one found any interest in them. In fact, some of had been written in German.

While the girl's left hand slowly turned the pages, her right hand was quickly jotting down notes in her notebook.

"And you're not worried she's going to ruin your precious books?" Usually, Aziraphale was such a stickler about who he let touch certain books, which books were allowed to be sold, and so on. He didn't even like customers, as they would rather buy the old books instead of admiring them. He too even surprised himself when he allowed the girl, whose name he had not gotten, to read through them. But then again, they were just odd books he had collected, not his Wildes.

Aziraphale shook his head, "She looks harmless, Crowley. Don't know why you're so worried." He picked up his mug of cocoa, heated it back to its desired warmth in his hands, and took a sip.

"Not to mention, she went from soaking wet to bone dry in record time, Mr. Discreet."

The girl, desperately trying to translate the German text in front of her, was finding it more difficult than usual with the two men across the room so obviously whispering about her.

"I can hear you, you know." She didn't raise her head from the book, but she could probably tell out of the corner of her eye that she had caught the men's attention.

They didn't talk about her for the rest of the evening — or, at least, they got much better at whispering.

An hour went by before she finally looked up from the table and saw that the rain had stopped. She packed her things in her bag and Aziraphale stood and excused himself from his and Crowley's conversation to lock up the shop after she had left.

"What is it, may I ask, that you're researching?" The more Aziraphale thought about it, the more intrigued he was on why a young girl would need such peculiar books. He had lots of students come in for books on history and of course, books of famous authors and poets, but this was a first.

"Oh, I'm writing my senior thesis. I study Historic Preservation at University College London." She slung her bag over her shoulders. "Thank you so much for letting me use those books. You have no idea how much I needed them, and our library didn't have them. Not that I like our library anyway. It's far too crowded and noisy and I can never find a place to sit alone."

With her being dry now, it was the first time Aziraphale really got a good look at the girl. She had dark red hair, almost the shade Crowley's, and icy-blue eyes that resembled Aziraphale's. Light freckles were scattered across her nose and cheeks. She was a rather pretty young girl, but she hid behind glasses that didn't suit her and long hair that she pulled forward to cover her face. Aziraphale could sense things about places and people as well. He could tell when someone was loved or was very loving, he could tell when someone was sad, when they were angry and when they were...lonely. And this girl was extremely lonely.

Aziraphale didn't know what came over him, but he told the girl that she could come back to the bookshop whenever she needed; that he would make sure no one took the books on her field of study, not that he expected anyone to take them. Perhaps it was because he felt for the girl, as he does most students he sees working themselves to the bone trying to graduate. Or perhaps it was because this girl in front of him was in some desperate need of human interaction. Behind them, Crowley's jaw might as well have hit the floor.

She was about to leave when Aziraphale asked, "Oh, and I forgot, what's your name, dear girl?"

"Oh!" She gave an embarrassed smile. "It's Eve."


	2. Then Came a Third

The last time Aziraphale and Crowley met someone who was named in Genesis, the world nearly ended. Of course, Adam had been the Antichrist, but the two had realized long ago that everything happened for a reason, and a girl named Eve didn't show up on your doorstep nearly a year after a boy named Adam had tried to destroy Earth.

"Well, good job there, angel." Crowley took a swig of his wine.

"I didn't know her name!" Aziraphale argued.

"When a meteor or something hits London tomorrow, I don't want to hear it."

"Wouldn't our respective offices had contacted us if there was some sort of evil entity roaming around London?" Crowley said nothing, just shrugged as he took another sip.

"Well, whatever it is, somebody, somewhere, is trying to send us a message, or a warning, or an omen or whatever."

Aziraphale walked over to the table that Eve was working at and neatly stacked the architecture books. "I think she was just writing a paper." He said.

Sure enough, Eve returned two days after that, after London had successfully not been hit with any meteors. However, she came to find Mr. Fell alone in his shop, and without his friend who was there before. Eve had secretly watched them while she took her notes the other evening. She didn't always mean to do it, but she loved observing people and watching how they interacted with others.

Eve was shy and timid around new people. She spoke quietly and quickly and didn't always make eye contact. With Mr. Fell and his friend, Eve observed that something was most definitely going on between the two of them. Friends didn't usually linger over gazing at each other.

Even more-so, what had been bothering her for the past two days then was how her clothes, her hair, and her book bag had dried so quickly and her books and notebooks weren't at all damaged by the rain. It wasn't like her bag was entirely waterproof.

She took the Tube to Mr. Fell's shop after her last class that day. With his sporadic business hours, she was lucky for him to open that day. She pushed open the door, and the twinkle of the bell caught his attention as he stood at the cashier counter, drinking tea. "Ah, good afternoon, Eve."

Eve almost jumped from where she stood at the door. She hadn't expected the bookseller to remember her at all. After all, she found herself to be quite forgettable.

"Back for more research?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah. I wanted to make it back yesterday, but I got stuck in the studio all day. I had to finish drawing my elevation." She started to make her way back to the table and sofa where she sat before, seeing the books she was using as her sources in a neat pile. Before she sat down, she paused and turned back to the bookseller. "Mr. Fell?"

"Yes? Anything I can help you with?"

"Are you a witch?"

It came out so childishly and nonchalantly, although it made Aziraphale almost choke on his tea, "A witch? What makes you say that?"

"Well, it's just," she looked back at the fireplace, which wasn't lit at the moment as that day had been sunny and warm, "people don't dry off in five minutes."

Oh bother, she had noticed, Aziraphale thought to himself. I can't tell her I'm not a witch, there's no other explanation. And if I'm not a witch, what else am I? Oh, I wish Crowley was here. He's always good at averting a crisis.

"I'm not a witch… I'm, well, an angel." Aziraphale clasped his hands in front of him, bracing himself for whatever reaction the girl would have.

What he didn't brace himself for was her breaking out into laughter. She started to shrug her bag off of her shoulders, "Yeah, okay. You know, I'm not going to burn you at the stake if you really are a witch."

Aziraphale sighed. Eve continued giggling and there was the sound of rustling feathers and then the loud 'thump' of her book bag on the hardwood floor. Aziraphale had magnificent white wings that somehow glowed like they were made of diamonds. Eve gaped at them, speechless before the English language entered her mind again. "Well, I'll be damned."

"Quite the opposite, actually," Aziraphale smirked and his wings disappeared.

"And your friend? Is he an angel as well?"

"Crowley? No, he's… a demon."

"Ha!" Eve let out and brought her palm to her forehead like she was checking to see if this was all just a fever dream. "A bloody demon and a bloody angel…" She slowly sat down on the sofa, still looking flabbergasted.

"You mustn't tell anyone, though."

"Who would I tell? And even then, they'd call me crazy for even saying it!" She looked at the books, but couldn't find it within herself to concentrate on schoolwork when there was something much more interesting going on. "So, I guess your name isn't really A.Z. Fell, then."

Aziraphale shook his head. "It's just Aziraphale."

"Aziraphale," Eve repeated, testing the pronunciation. "I like that much better." She gave a small smile, now having absorbed the fact that she was in the company of a celestial being. "So, how did you two meet?"

"It's a long story, actually."

"I've got time." Eve shrugged. And that was how the two of them ended up talking for hours on the sofa. Well, actually, Aziraphale did most of the talking, while Eve intently listened. He told her his and Crowley's story, from the very beginning in the Garden of Eden, to Ancient Rome, to the sixteenth century, to the Victorian era, to both World Wars, and coming to a close at the Apocalypse-that-didn't-happen.

"So, you're telling me that the world almost ended a year ago?"

"You mean you don't remember anything from that day? Or even that week?"

Eve shook her head, "I must've been in the studio." She laughed. The studio was a windowless room crowded with drafting tables and uncomfortable stools. She spent sometimes hours on end in there, even to early in the mornings, working on her elevations and floor plans and details.

"This shop actually burnt down, but the next morning, everything was back to normal, not a scratch on anything."

Eve looked around the shop, at all of the books so carefully cared for, and not to mention the warm and cozy aesthetic. It would have been sad if this place actually had burnt down and remained that way. Plus, she would have never been able to get the books she needed for her thesis. And she would have never met Aziraphale.

When you are lonely, it's easy for you to find yourself attached to people, even if you just met them. You may find ways to entertain yourself, like reading a lot or daydreaming, creating worlds and stories and scenarios that would never happen. When someone allows you to talk, you talk and talk because there's so much that's gone unsaid within you. And Aziraphale was very kind to the young girl and welcoming, and besides, he was a literal angel so what wasn't there to not trust or not like about him. And his bookshop was just as warm and welcoming, and Eve found herself excited to return there, even if it meant having to work on her paper.

Likewise, an angel can only go for so long enjoying the same company. Not that he ever grew tired of Crowley; there was no such thing of growing tired of the wily demon. But he and Crowley had heard each other's stories. Actually, they had been there for most of one another's stories. But it was nice to have someone new to tell those stories to. It was quite fun to watch Eve's face in awe as Aziraphale told his story.

When he finished, Eve was sitting with her chin her palm, a warm smile on her face. "That was the best story I've ever heard."

"Thank you, dear." At some point in the midst of all that storytelling, Aziraphale had, what he told Eve, "miracled" some hot cocoa for the two of them and was just finishing his mug up, Eve's long gone.

"So, are you together now?" She asked curiously.

Aziraphale looked thoroughly confused. "What do you mean? Are who together?"

"You and Crowley, of course."

Now it was Aziraphale who burst into laughter, "Oh, you sweet child. H - he and I aren't together!"

Well, that story sure as hell sounded like a 6,000-year romance story, she thought. "My apologies. It's just, you seemed close, and the way you speak of him..."

"Oh, Crowley is only my best friend. Besides, I highly doubt demons are even capable of being in relationships - not any more than angels are."

"I guess you're right." But she knew something was off with him. He was so flustered about it, there was no way they were "just friends." Eve looked at Aziraphale's grandfather clock, which had just hit the next hour. "Oh, shoot. It's late. I really have better get going." She stood and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Thank you again. And, it was nice to finally meet you, Aziraphale."

"Likewise, Eve." He smiled and let her out, and as she was walking out the door, a 1930s Bentley pulled up in front of the shop with a screech. Crowley got out and almost walked completely past Eve if she hadn't said, "Hi, Crowley," in an almost knowing tone. The demon stopped and looked at her quizzically before she waved to them both and walked down the street.

When she was gone, Crowley turned to Aziraphale, "What was that all about?"

"You must have known she'd come back to do more research, Crowley?"

"Not that! How'd she know my name?" Aziraphale stepped aside to let Crowley in and shut the door, but kept his gaze to the floor.

"Well... I told her."

"What? You told her what?"

Aziraphale bit his lip before saying, "Everything."

"Aziraphale! What in Hell's name were you thinking?"

"She asked! Well, she asked after she had accused me of being a witch!"

"Oh, so telling her you're an angel is much better than being accused of some occultism and light magic?"

"Well, when you put it that way. You needn't worry, Crowley, she said our secret is safe."

"It'd be even safer if you had just kept your mouth shut." Crowley whisked over to Aziraphale's desk and the old sofa that had been his for years and plopped down.

Aziraphale, of course, didn't tell Crowley that Eve had thought that the two of them were together. After the Armageddon-that-wasn't, the mood had shifted between them. Before, they would occasionally meet up, go to the park together, talk for an hour or two in Aziraphale's shop. Now, it felt like they were almost always together, and closer to one another, physically. It was just a hand on the knee or on the arm, but they lingered for longer than what may be socially acceptable, and it made Aziraphale's heart beat so loud, he was surprised Crowley couldn't hear it.

There was always that lingering urge, that ache in his chest, the twitch in his fingers, to reach out and take Crowley's hand and feel what kissing his lips would feel like. He had always been curious, but he managed to subside it for thousands of years. Until the Second World War when Crowley had saved him in that church and saved his books nonetheless. That had been the nail on the coffin.

But he'd never tell Crowley that. Instead, he told him, "Eve said you're the prettiest demon she's ever seen."

Crowley rolled his eyes, "She thinks she can buy me over with some sweet words?" He miracled himself a drink and took a sip and then grumbled, "Although, it is true."

"Wholly," Aziraphale smirked. Crowley just took another drink, hoping to hide his pink cheeks with his glass.


	3. Two Idiots and a Girl

The next two times Eve visited the bookshop, Crowley was there in the opposite corner, chatting with Aziraphale. Both times, she entered the shop, and greeted Crowley with a hello, a wave and a shy smile. Then she briefly caught up with Aziraphale before excusing herself to her own corner. She actually got more of her paper done, and she had to at this point since she decided to take another route when Aziraphale gave her more books on the subject and she found that she could do so much more with it.

She came to the shop immediately after her last class of the day, that is, if she wasn't forced to be stuck inside the studio, and she left when Aziraphale "closed." She had gotten into the habit of helping him with closing, dusting off the shelves and making sure all of the books were in their rightful place. It was usually late when that happened, so Aziraphale had taken upon setting a sandwich at her table, some tea in the afternoon, hot cocoa before she made the trek home. And while they didn't speak much, as Aziraphale left her alone to work on her paper, she would sometimes observe the angel and the demon from across the shop. Not dating, my ass, she thought. It was fun, knowing so many secrets. The secret that Aziraphale and Crowley were an angel and a demon, and the secret that neither of them knew: that they were absolutely smitten with one another.

On the third visit, Eve entered the shop to find it oddly crowded. She'd never seen so many people in the shop before, and it strangely agitated her.

She could have committed murder when she saw other people in her unofficial spot, reading and discussing a book together.

"Eve, my dear," Aziraphale called from behind her. He was held up with a customer asking too many stupid questions. "Just go sit at my desk."

But Crowley was back there, pretending to flip through a book, but he too was glaring at all of the people inside the shop. Eve sighed and tried not to stomp over to the table and scoop up her books that Aziraphale always left stacked and ready for her, but she didn't hold back the death glare she gave the couple as she turned away.

She really needed to work on this paper. And she really needed to study for her Architectural History test the next day, but that could wait until the place emptied out a bit.

She set down the books and sat down. Crowley looked up from his book and raised a brow, and when answered with a quick smile before she went to reading, he went back to pretending to read.

A few hours passed and Eve sat up, pushed her glasses up onto her forehead and rubbed her eyes. She was starting to get weary from reading small, boring print. She looked over at Crowley, who wasn't glaring at his book, or around the room, but at one fixated point. She followed his line of sight to a man standing at the cashier counter with Aziraphale. The angel was blushing like mad and kept shifting his weight back and forth, obviously flustered. The man talking to him flirted with him shamelessly.

Crowley grit his teeth but did nothing. Eve smirked, Bingo. She pushed her glasses back down to her nose and got up and made her way over to the two men. "Excuse me, Mr. Fell, do you happen to have any more books on Baroque Architecture? I want to write more about it, but I need some more sources."

She could see Aziraphale's shoulders relax. "Eve," he smiled. "Yes, I just may. Let me go check in the back room." He excused himself from the man and vanished off to the back room.

Eve turned to the man and raised her brow expectedly and gave him a rather bitchy look. "There's a lot of books back there, could take him a while. You might as well go."

"Oh, I can wait," the man laughed her off.

Her eyes narrowed and her voice deepened. "Leave." He looked shocked and slowly backed away from her before he made his quick exit from the shop.

She made her way back to Aziraphale's desk. Incredible how simple body language can mean a thousand words.

"Did you really just do that?" Crowley's raised eyebrows asked.

"Perhaps," her shrug replied.

"Not bad, kid." His smirk said.

Aziraphale soon returned with several more books, sooner than Eve told the flirtatious man. He looked around as he set down the books. "Here you are. Where did he go?"

"Oh, he left. Said something about having to leave in a hurry." Aziraphale nodded and went back to busting himself at the front of the shop. Eve muttered under her breath, "Something about having to go fuck himself."

This earned a snort out of Crowley, who wasn't intended to hear it, but Eve was glad he did. More brownie points for her.

As the day went by, the shop became less crowded. Eve could have returned back to her corner, but she decided to stay where she was and pull out her stack of flashcards. Not like Crowley was doing anything important that he would be bothered by her studying.

Even though Crowley's eyes were covered by his sunglasses, his gazing at Aziraphale did not go unnoticed, at least not by Eve. She had written off both of them as completely oblivious to the other's pining over each other after her long talk with Aziraphale. She couldn't help but smile as she watched from the corner of her eye, Crowley's head moving back and forth, following Aziraphale as he went about the shop. Idiots, she thought.

Studying for Eve was like a process of elimination. She had studied like this since primary school and had been extremely successful since, so there wasn't any use in changing her methods when she entered University. The Architectural History exam seemed simple, in theory. The professor showed a photo of a building on the screen, and the students had to write the name, architect, location, and year (give or take five years) on their paper, easy enough. Except that Eve was struggling over the same buildings over and over and over again. The cards that she answered correctly went in one pile, and the ones she needed to study more went in another. So far, out of forty cards, only four remained in the come-back-to-it-later pile.

She had started out mumbling the answers, but now, thirty minutes later, she was growling the names of architects and years through her teeth and slamming down the same four cards. Crowley now turned his attention to her, as she was, at the moment, more interesting than Aziraphale reorganizing his bookshelves.

Eve took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair, dipping her head back so that she looked up at the ceiling. Crowley took the four cards from Aziraphale's desk and shuffled them, and then read aloud the name of the building from the front of the index card. Eve had to name the remaining information that was written on the back. She answered the architect's name and location with ease, but her date was almost a hundred years off. Crowley checked: it was the date of the building on the next card.

"No, see, you're just trying to memorize it. You're not going to learn that way. You seem clever enough, think of the building's style, think of who the architect is. Then take your best shot at the date."

Eve day up and furrowed her brow, "Erm, the 1850s?"

"Well, it says the date is 1854-56, but that's close enough." Crowley passed her the card to put in the "correct" pile.

Eve grinned, "He said as long as we're in a five-year range, he'll count it."

"There you go," Eve could've sworn there was a hint of a smile there.

He continued to quiz her until there was one card left. She kept getting hung up on the date, which was 1642, which was as random as a date could get. Crowley finally told her that missing one date was not going to make or break her grade. Then he took all forty cards, shuffled them around, and quizzed her one last time. There were a few that she had to take time answering, but most only took her a few seconds. And the 1642 card, she was off by 8 years, which Crowley thought was close enough. By the time they were finished, Aziraphale had already closed up shop and was sitting next to Crowley, watching the two of them.

Eve went home that night not as anxious as she had been for tests in the past, and it was nice to wake up the next morning and not want to throw up as she walked to her lecture hall. She got an A on the test and got only a half of a point taken off for an incorrect date. She answered 1650.

When she left, Aziraphale smiled at his friend. "That was kind of you."

"Don't, angel." Crowley held up his hand. "I'm a demon; I don't do nice. But I also don't enforce torture, and that's what the kid was going through."

Aziraphale still kept his smile, "Oh, so Eve has been promoted from 'she' to the 'the kid' now?"

"Shut up and drink your bloody hot cocoa."

Eve didn't come back for the next two days, as it was the weekend, and her eyes needed a break from staring at text, so she would strain them by staring at a screen, converting her scribbled notes into an actual comprehensible paper.

When she walked to the shop on Monday afternoon, it was pouring again. Thankfully, she had invested in a fold-up umbrella that fit in her bag, so she didn't arrive at Aziraphale's soaking wet. But as she approached the shop, she noticed that Aziraphale had drawn the blinds and the "Sorry, We're Closed" sign was out and that there was shouting from inside. She slowly approached the door and made a quick step to the right when it swung open and Crowley stomped out in a hurry. If it wasn't raining so hard, Eve could have seen the steam coming out of Crowley's ears.

She didn't get a good at Crowley's face, but she could see that Aziraphale's was visibly upset. He was standing in the middle of the room, and with the lights off in the store and the dark storm clouds above, it made it look like it was nighttime. Eve shook off the water from her umbrella and folded the umbrella back up and went inside.

"Aziraphale?" She shut the door behind her.

"I see you've gotten yourself an umbrella." He said, trying to lighten up the mood.

She gave him a sad smile, "Want to talk about it?"

He shook his head as she took off her coat and hung it up on the hook by the door, along with setting her bag down. She knew that there was not getting any work done that day.

"C'mon, let's sit." She took his arm and walked over to the sofa near his desk. Eve had unofficially named it Crowley's Sofa since he was always sitting there when she came into the shop.

"Would you like anything?" Aziraphale asked, trying to force a smile. His eyes looked so sad and tired.

"No, thank you." He miracled himself hot cocoa. The man's gonna turn his blood into cocoa, she thought. What he really needed was a hard drink but to each his own. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, certainly."

"Liar."

Aziraphale drank his cocoa and stared down into the mug. "I said something terrible to him..." Eve didn't say anything but turned to face him so that he knew he had her full attention. "You... know that I hold my Wildes very dear to my heart?" She nodded. "I... and please don't pass judgment," as I could ever pass judgment on an angel, but okay, "but when Oscar was alive... he and I... well..." Aziraphale's cheeks turned a dark pink and it finally hit Eve. Oh. Oh.

"I get it, but go on."

"Crowley never understood why I was infatuated with him. Whenever I brought him up, he turned sour. And then today, everything was going quite well, and I had mentioned Oscar, only in passing, but then Crowley got... well, how he gets, and we got into a spat and then..." He took a deep breath. "I told him he wasn't capable of love, that there's no possible way that a demon could ever love someone or know what it's like to be loved..."

Eve was shocked, honestly. Here, she had thought that Crowley would be the harsh one. "When we're upset, we aren't always aware of what we're saying, or how it'll make the other person feel. But I must say, Aziraphale." He tore his attention away from his mug to her. "You are an idiot."

Aziraphale's eyes widened, and she could see that tears were starting to form. "Pardon?"

"You know what you said to him wasn't only hurtful, but also a complete lie. Of course, he gets upset when you talk about Oscar Wilde; he's jealous. I've only known the two of you for a week now and I can see the way you look at one another. And of course, Crowley is capable of love, he-" she paused. She had to think about this carefully, choose her wording wisely. "-He has risked his life as much as you have to be there for each other. And saved you countless times. You've put up with each other for 6,000 years, and you're going to look me in the eyes and tell me that you have absolutely no feelings for him?"

"I - I... I can't..."

"Why the hell not?"

"He's a demon, Eve. And I'm an angel. We're supposed to be enemies. It's bad enough we're friends, I can't imagine what would happen to us if we ever became anything more."

She sighed, "What's the worst thing that could happen? Honestly, what is the worst case scenario?"

"I could Fall? We could both die?"

"Or nothing could happen at all? You said it yourself, Heaven and Hell has pretty much gotten off your backs. I'm sure they've both got much bigger fish to fry." Eve looked at the door. The rain had picked up, and she felt that Crowley wasn't going to come back anytime soon, even though his Bentley was still parked out front. "The world could end tomorrow. Not in some biblical way, but nuclear warfare, World War III, no warning. We all die, you, Crowley, everyone. And the last thing you would have said to him is that he would never be loved."

Now tears flowed freely down Aziraphale's cheeks, and Eve tried her best not to tear up as well.

"I don't want to watch you live your life in regret, Aziraphale. And I can't continue to watch you torture yourselves over each other. You're just going to live your life in heartbreak."

"I don't know how to fix this, Eve." He told her. She didn't really know how to fix it either. It wasn't her place to go to Crowley and say, "Hey, Aziraphale was being stupid, but he does love you!" They would have to come to that conclusion on their own. That didn't mean that she couldn't at least help them get in the right direction.

She sighed and stood and walked over to the door to put on her coat and grab her umbrella. "Where are you going now?" Aziraphale asked.

"To go find the other idiot." She opened the door; it was still pouring. "Any ideas where he might be?"

St. James's Park was Aziraphale's first suggestion, and she was glad he had been correct. There was no one else in the park, so the man in black clothes with dark red hair sitting alone in a bench in front of the pond was easy to spot.

She walked over to him, her footsteps muffled by the sound of rain. Crowley was sitting on the bench with his head in his hands. No use in keeping his sunglasses on; he was alone and they were filling up with water anyway. He was completely drenched, and then suddenly, the rain stopped hitting him but continued to pour around him.

He looked up to find Eve standing over him, covering him with her umbrella. "What the hell are you doing here?"

It was the first time Eve had seen his eyes. They reminded her of a snake's. "Cool eyes." She said and sat down next to him, close enough so that they were both covered by the umbrella. "Let's talk, Crowley."

Crowley groaned. He really did not want to be bothered by anyone at the moment, especially the kid. But he knew there was no squirming his way out of this.

"Aziraphale told me what happened."

"And?" he asked.

"I told him he was an idiot. You're being one, too, you know. Living your life wallowing in the fact that you've been smitten with him for God knows how long. Pair of stubborn bastards, you are."

Crowley stared at the girl. Not only was this the most she's ever spoken to him, but she also spoke with a ferocity he, in a million years, would never expect from someone like her. "Just talk to him..."

"There's nothing I have to say to him," he crossed his arms and his wet shirt squelched under his arms.

"Then listen to what he has to say?"

He stayed silent, just looking at the pond. There were no ducks. Did ducks go and find shelter when it rained? Were they bothered by the rain? Water slid right off them, didn't it?

"How upset was he?" He asked.

"There were tears." She replied. He also said that he loved you, you idiot, but that's not my place to say.

Crowley sighed and took the umbrella from Eve's hand and stood. "Come on, then."

She followed him in silence, the two of them trying their best to stay sheltered from the rain under her tiny umbrella.

They stopped in front of the bookshop door. Inside, it was still dark and the blinds were closed. Eve looked up at Crowley. "Hear him out, and try not to say anything hurtful." She could tell he had rolled his eyes, even from behind his sunglasses. He must have miracled himself dry because his hair and clothes were no longer sopping wet.

Eve took the umbrella back and held the door open for him, and stepped inside just enough to grab her bag while her hand holding her umbrella kept the door open.

Aziraphale stood in the middle of the shop with a book in his hands. Before she left, she gave Aziraphale a sad smile and shut the door behind her and made her way home.

Inside the shop, the tension could have been cut with a chainsaw. Both men stood at opposite ends, and it was Crowley who finally broke the silence.

"So, you've got the kid doing your dirty work for you now?" He hadn't meant it to come out so venomous.

"She went after you on her own."

Crowley shoved his hands in his pockets and crossed the room to stand in front of the angel and took off his glasses, his slit eyes narrowed, while Aziraphale's own icy blue eyes were bloodshot.

Though Crowley was dry, he still smelled of the rain and the blooming flowers from the park. Aziraphale always smelled of old books and hints of cocoa. It was a smell Crowley had grown used to and found comfort in. But now as he looked at Aziraphale, he didn't know if he wanted to hurt him or kiss him.

"Crowley, I - "

Crowley held up a hand to stop him. "No, you don't get to talk." Aziraphale snapped his jaw shut. "For being so, so clever, you really are the biggest idiot I have ever met in six thousand years. You're supposed to be all about love. How could you not feel it?"

Of course, I felt it, Aziraphale thought, but he stayed shut up. I feel it.

Crowley knew he was just digging himself an even deeper grave. But now he was talking and could not for the life of him get himself to stop. "For six thousand years, we've put up with each other."

Aziraphale wanted to say, "I know, and I'm sorry, and I was stupid and said things I didn't mean." He wanted to say, "I know, and you have every right to get jealous when I bring up Oscar because I did it because I knew I could never have you." He wanted to desperately tell him, "I know, but shut up before I do something stupid and end up in Hellfire."

But instead, he didn't say anything. He just did. Hellfire be damned. Literally.

Crowley's ranting was cut off abruptly with a chaste kiss. Neither of them burned. The Earth did not open up below them nor did the sky fall from above.

And so Crowley pulled Aziraphale back for another and Aziraphale brought his hand up to Crowley's jaw to steady him, while Crowley's hand pressed against Aziraphale's lower back. And another. Until they melted into each other. They pulled apart, but only enough to look in each other's eyes. They both were flushed and breathing heavily.

"Crowley..."

"Shut up, angel."

Crowley pulled him close and kissed him again. And Aziraphale did not Fall.


	4. Mazel Tov to the Graduate!

"So," Eve sat next to Crowley on the worn out sofa next to Aziraphale's desk.

It had been two months since Crowley and Aziraphale had "gotten together," as Eve said, although they had always been together, turns out. It's just now, their relationship had made that next step forward into kissing and touching and... more.

When Aziraphale first told Eve, she had been all for spending hours with him talking about his new relationship, even though Eve told him she had no experience with love except for what she read in books or saw in movies. But when their relationship had escalated, she told him to leave it at that, but that she was happy for them.

Her and Aziraphale only grew closer over the months. She had taken to calling him Zira, and Aziraphale never had the heart to tell her otherwise. He'd learn to love it anyway. It was worth Eve's smile and laughter, and the aura of loneliness disappearing from around her.

Crowley had also opened up to Eve and even addressed her by her name, although "kid" had become an endearing nickname that he gave her. When Aziraphale was busy with customers, though they were rare, he would talk to her about anything. As it turned out, Crowley had skimmed the books Eve researched, since he wanted to see just what Eve found so interesting that she would spend hours on end in a dim bookshop straining her eyes for.

Speaking of her eyes, Crowley had snatched Eve's glasses off of Aziraphale's desk when she set them down to rub her eyes one night. He picked them up and peered through them. "How bloody blind are you?"

She looked over at him; his face was a blurry mess of skin and red hair and yellow eyes. "Legally, technically. Can't really see your face, just your general shape." She gestured her hand to his face.

Crowley nodded, or at least she thought he did by his movement and handed Eve her glasses. The frames felt different in her hands. For one, they felt like plastic now instead of her wire-rim glasses and were more rounded than her's. She put them on and everything in the room became crisp and clear again.

"There. Those suit you much better." Crowley said. Eve grabbed her phone and swiped to put on the camera. They were completely different glasses. And he was right, they did suit her better.

So, Eve rather enjoyed having someone take an interest in her passion. Most people didn't know what she was talking about when she mentioned it or found it a waste of a degree. Sometimes when he could, Aziraphale would listen in when the shop was empty. When she really got into a passionate tirade of her loathing of American mid-century modern architecture, Aziraphale closed the whole shop. She mostly enjoyed telling him and Aziraphale of her semester abroad in America a year prior. She had gone to the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina, one of the best and only schools in America for Historic Preservation. It was there she learned how to research buildings, learn the condensed history of American Architecture, which she then went on a tangent about how it wasn't "American" at all, and conserve historic materials.

But it did hinder her focus on her paper, but she pulled a few all-nighters to finish it. When she finally finished her first complete draft of her senior thesis, she handed the thick stack of papers to Crowley.

"What would you like me to do with this?" He asked, bobbing the paper in his hands. It weighed a ton ands held together by a binder clip because a staple wouldn't go through it.

"Edit it? I've already gone through and fixed the small, grammatical errors, but I need someone to read it over and make sure it's coherent and, well, good."

"I think this is more in Aziraphale's field." He tried to hand her back the paper, but she shook her head and pushed it back to him.

"No. I need feedback, positive or negative. And Zira will only give me positive. I need you to rip this thesis apart." She handed him a red pen and edited her paper. Three drafts later and it was finally complete.

That was how she ended up where she sat, with her laptop opened to the Dropbox Submission page. The file had been converted to a Word Doc and uploaded it. Now all she had to do was hit 'Submit.'

"What does the 'J' stand for again?" She asked them. She was referring to the 'J' in Anthony J. Crowley.

"Stop stalling, Eve, and just submit the paper already," Aziraphale told her.

"You've edited over and over, read through it, read through it backward. The sooner you let go of it, the sooner you can relax." Crowley added.

"You're right," she said and took a deep breath and clicked 'Submit.' All at once her shoulders relaxed, her jaw unclenched, and it felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest.

Crowley clapped a hand on Eve's shoulder. "Now you only have to worry about your exams."

Eve groaned and pushed her glasses up onto her forehead to pinch the bridge of her nose. "And the stress is back."

"No use in worrying about it now, dear girl," Aziraphale said and handed Eve a glass of wine. She wished it was something stronger. "You'll be just fine on your exams as well. Aren't they just on what you've been writing your paper on?"

She nodded, "Pretty much. I've just got to study some more." She took a deep breath and drank her wine, finishing off her glass.

"It's Janthony, by the way," Aziraphale said with a smirk.

"Pardon?"

"The 'J' in Crowley's name. It's Janthony."

"No…" she turned to Crowley, who said nothing but shot back the rest of his wine. "No, tell me you're joking." He and Aziraphale both shook their heads.

"Fucking Christ…" she giggled and held out her glass. "I need more to deal with you idiots."

For that next week, Eve spent a lot of long nights pulling more all-nighters in Aziraphale's bookshop. While she didn't have much use for the architecture books anymore, she still despised working in her school's library and from what Aziraphale could tell, hated being in her own dorm.

He didn't mind, either. He found no use for sleep, unlike Crowley, and enjoyed having Eve around. He was afraid that once she finished her paper, she would disappear. The truth was, she had grown rather attached to the bookshop and the angel and demon inside it.

Some nights Crowley spent at his own apartment, others he spent at Aziraphale's, which was becoming more frequent. But as a demon cursed by Sloth, he went to bed at a reasonable time.

On the night before her last exam, she spent it at Aziraphale's shop. At one o'clock in the morning, Aziraphale shut her textbook, saying if she didn't know the information by then, then there was no use. But he had been watching her study for hours, and she did know the information; knew it like the back of her hand. So, she passed out on the sofa and was out the door by seven o'clock the next morning, too anxious to say goodbye.

Eve hadn't even told them when her exam was, which was why she was surprised to find both Aziraphale and Crowley standing outside of the Bartlett Building, waiting for her with the Bentley.

She came out of the building, along with the rest of her classmates, but stopped dead when she saw them. She had changed that morning when she got to campus, having only just enough time to run to her dorm, change very quickly, and run back to The Bartlett.

Crowley had said something to her once about "dress well, do well," and she figured that going to the last exam she would ever take in her life in a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants. So, she threw on a skirt and a UCL pullover.

Other students were starting to stare, whether it was at the beautiful Bentley or the unrealistically beautiful men standing in front of it. Eve was staring at the latter, not even sure what to do or say.

She gave a small wave and slowly made her way over to the car. Oh God, she thought to herself. Sure, she was surprised to see them, but she was exhausted and her brain felt fried and heavy from her long three-Hour-long exam.

"Hello, dear girl." Aziraphale grinned. "How was your exam?"

"I…" I want to cry and then sleep until graduation, she thought. "It was okay… I don't think I failed, at least."

"Well, then that's enough reason to celebrate." He opened the car door and pushed the seat forward so that she could get into the back.

She had never been in Crowley's Bentley, and even though it was a ninety-year-old car, it still looked brand new. In the back seat with her was a basket. She peeked inside to find sandwiches, a blanket, and a bottle of wine.

"Where are we going?" Eve asked as Crowley and Aziraphale got into the car.

"The park," Crowley said before he started the engine and the car sped forward. She felt like she was on a roller coaster, her back pressed against the seat from the force. Going 90mph through central London, they were there in a third of the time with a screeching halt. They miraculously found a space right at the front entrance to St. James's Park that she was sure wasn't a legal space.

"Jesus…" she whispered, her hands still gripping the leather seats for dear life.

Aziraphale turned to look over his shoulder, "Sorry, dear. I should have warned you that Crowley goes a bit fast."

"A bit?" Crowley let her out of the car and she looked down at the basket in her hands. "So, a picnic?"

"You've submitted your dissertation, you've finished your exams, you graduate in a week," Aziraphale said. "You deserve to relax and celebrate."

"With wine and chocolate," Crowley added.

"Oh, you two are the best." She grinned.

They found a space in the grass near the pond that wasn't crowded by secret agents, but close enough to the ducks. Eve peeled off the crust of her sandwich and threw it to a family of ducklings.

An hour later, Eve's head ended up in Aziraphale's lap, slightly wine tipsy. "Explain it again."

Crowley sighed. He and Aziraphale were trying to explain what exactly Heaven and Hell were like, but of course, it was difficult to explain to a human. "Hell is not like they describe it in literature. It's not all Hellfire and the River Styx. Everyone has their own personal Hell, but Satan isn't just walking around. Really, it's just one big crowded office building with oozing walls."

Eve made a face and Aziraphale added, "And Heaven is quite the opposite. It's blindingly bright and open and sterile. But, it's also rather like an office building just... nicer."

"Do people have their own personal Heavens as well?" Eve asked. "Like, when you die, do you see all your dead relatives and stuff?"

"Yes. And some Heavens overlap."

Eve stared up at the sky. Was Heaven up there? Was it in the clouds like they taught children, or was it in a completely different universe? Or maybe it was way past the stars. After all, the universe hasn't all been explored yet. "Where do you think I'll go when I die?"

Aziraphale and Crowley looked at one another, waiting for the other to speak first. "Er... why are you worrying about that now?" Crowley asked.

"Yes, you're young and you have a very very long time before you need to even think about that."

"I just want to know. You know, what to expect." Eve wasn't looking at either of them; she was still staring up at the sky.

"Of course you'll go to Heaven, dear girl." Aziraphale smiled.

"Don't really think you're capable of landing yourself down there, anyway," Crowley said.

Eve smirked. "Can I tell you something?" She looked up at Aziraphale, Crowley not in her view. "I'm actually Jewish... So I don't think I believe in either Heaven or Hell. Well, I know they exist now, but growing up, I didn't."

Crowley and Aziraphale looked at each other and then back at Eve and the three burst into laughter. It was all just too ironic. According to Jewish belief, Jews didn't necessarily believe in an afterlife that included a Heaven or Hell, nor did they necessarily believe in Demons. However, they did believe that angels exist. Not that Eve led her life by Jewish belief to a tee; she really loved bacon too much.

"Oh!" Eve shot up. "I almost forgot!" She dug around in her book bag and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Crowley.

"What's this?" He opened it to find two tickets.

"Well, I graduate next week and each graduate gets two tickets. You both were instrumental to my dissertation and me getting through exams so... I was hoping you would come? The ceremony is at ten o'clock on a Saturday morning so I'd understand if you didn't want to but-"

"Wouldn't your family want to go, Eve?" Aziraphale asked.

She gave him a sad smile, "You... pretty much are my family."

Aziraphale felt a pang in his chest. Even Crowley's heart broke for the girl. "Of course we'll be there," he assured her.

Crowley only slightly regretted it the next Saturday morning when he had to wake up at six-thirty in the morning to get ready. In the apartment above the bookshop, Aziraphale, already dressed, made Crowley a cup of coffee.

"The ceremony isn't until ten!" Crowley groaned. He was fidgeting with his tie in the mirror.

Aziraphale set the mug down on the side table and stood behind Crowley. He brought his hands around him and fixed his tie into a Windsor knot. "It's not every day our Eve graduates from University. We should get there early to get good seats."

"Our Eve..." Crowley repeated.

Aziraphale smiled fondly. "Yes. Wait, you almost never wear a tie."

Crowley raised a brow and picked up his coffee. "It's not every day our Eve graduates University." He smirked and left the room, but that word still lingered. "Our." A few months ago, Eve was nothing more than an anxious university student who showed up on Aziraphale's doorstep one afternoon looking for some books. Now she had become part of their lives.

Eve hadn't seen Crowley or Aziraphale since their picnic, and as she fussed with the purple and light blue hood of her graduation gown, she was worried they wouldn't show after all. She wouldn't blame them; she was just some random girl who frequented the bookshop. They probably paid no mind to her, but Eve had dug her hole deep and allowed herself to get attached to them. When they called for graduates to get into their places and get ready to go out, Eve tossed on her cap and got in line.

Then a wave of relief washed over her when she spotted bright red hair and white-blonde hair amongst the crowd. She felt like she could run a mile in the damn heels she wore from the proud energy they were radiating.

"She looks beautiful," Aziraphale whispered.

"It's graduation, angel, not her wedding."

"Yes, but look she's smiling, she's bright."

"She's taller."

Aziraphale rolled his eyes. "She's wearing heels, dear."

The graduates sat in the seats up front and ordered by last names.

First, the President of University College London spoke and welcomed the graduates of 2020 and speaking on tradition. Eve wondered if the Aziraphale and Crowley were dozing off in their seats like she was.

Then the Dean of Students went up to speak and Eve perked up. "It is my honor to welcome an extraordinary student to the stage. This young woman is graduating today with Summa Cum Laude from The Bartlett School of Architecture. She is graduating in just three years. She is your Student President of the Class of 2020, Miss Thompson."

Eve stood and quickly glanced back at Crowley and Aziraphale's surprised faces and Crowley lean over to whisper something to the angel as she walked up on stage.

"Did you know this?" Crowley asked.

He shook his head. "I didn't even know her last name was Thompson." She had never mentioned that she was student body president or that her grades were so high.

Eve took a deep breath as she looked out onto the sea of people. She had always hated public speaking but was honored to speak at her graduation. Her speech was already printed out for her and she gripped the podium and found Crowley and Aziraphale. Her guardian angels.

"Students, professors, board members, and family, good morning. My name is Eve Thompson. I am here today to not only talk about success but also of coming to terms with failure.

"Winston Churchill said, 'Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.' We did not get here to this day by giving up completely the first time we failed. And we will not get anywhere in life beyond this point if we choose to lie belly-up and give up.

"Failure is inevitable. It is humiliating and for a moment, we do think it's fatal. It is human nature to go through every possible scenario of failing. If I fail this test, then I fail the class, then I fail senior year, then I fail out of university, and I'll never get a job and I'll be stuck living on my parent's couch until I'm forty, all because I failed that history pop quiz! You can choose to let your mind lead you on this and let that feeling consume you. And the danger is, if you start to believe in something enough, it will start to come true. This is called a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"Or, you could step back and evaluate the situation. You can choose to study harder next time, and be confident in yourself that you will achieve your goal. That is struggle, and it is the trait that got all of us here today. Make your self-fulfilling prophecy one of success— make your mantra, 'I can do it,' not, 'I'll never be able to.'

"We must not be afraid to fail; if we are, then we will live our entire lives in fear because no successful person ever got to where he or she was because they accepted their failures and gave up. Abraham Lincoln was defeated eleven times, that's almost every time he ran for public office, and yet in 1860, he became the sixteenth president of the United States. How did this happen? He didn't let himself be defined by failure and he didn't quit.

"I was a student that was absolutely terrified of failing. I always wanted to be on top; the best at everything. I thought that it would make me feel good about myself, but I learned that this phobia— which is a real thing, it's called Atychiphobia— would become an even greater struggle than keeping my GPA where I wanted it to be. Days leading up to a test, I would be ridden with anxiety. Every study session turned into a panic attack. Pop quizzes would become my demise, and so on and so forth. I'm sure everyone has gone through this once at some point in their life.

"This fear started to affect my health and made me miserable, and I didn't want that to be how I lived my life. I was able to find coping mechanisms, and tell myself that it would all work out in the end. I'd reprogram myself to turn my anxiety into positive action and I'd remind myself that not getting the perfect score wasn't going to kill me even if my brain was telling me it would. After three years, I still get nervous before a test, as everyone does, but I don't let it dictate the outcome. If I had let it and accepted the fact that I would fail before I even tried, I would not be standing up here today.

"Advisors would tell me, 'You don't learn anything from winning all of the time,' and they were right. You learn from your failures, and there are hardships that you need to experience that come with it. If you win at everything, then you will never know what it's like to lose and your successes will not have the same personal value as they would if you struggled to achieve them. Like the Japanese proverb says, 'Fall down seven times, stand up eight.' We are more than our setbacks or our successes. We are only defined by how we react to them.

"Failure needs to become not a fear, but a struggle; something we learn to overcome. It will always be there, hovering above us, but so is success. Both options are within our reach.

"We are successful today, Class of 2020. You have all worked extremely hard to get to where you are today, and it is expected that you continue to give your best effort in your future endeavors. We will face obstacles, and we may feel defeated, but remember, these are simply a setback to future successes. Move forward to find your accomplishment.

"Congratulations, 2020 graduates. You did it."

The crowd cheered and the tightness disappeared from her chest. She never looked away from where Aziraphale and Crowley sat, even though she could see the tears in Aziraphale's eyes from the podium and she fought the urge to let tears form in her own eyes. The Dean returned to the podium, shook Eve's hand, and sent her back to her seat.

She looked back at them and saw Aziraphale dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief. Shit, don't cry, she told herself over and over again. Emotions were on high already, but she couldn't stand to watch others cry.

"You didn't really bring that air horn, did you?" Aziraphale asked Crowley when it came time for the graduates to receive their diplomas.

Crowley smirked, "No. Only because I knew Eve would kill me if I did."

"And I would help her."

"Maria Julia Thatcher... Richard Joseph Thayne... Nathaniel George Theilman... Annabelle Francine Theodore... Virginia Mary Thimmig... Jude Thomas Thistle..." the Dean went on naming the graduates as they came up onto the stage and received their diploma. Finally, Eve stepped up. "Evelyn Rose Thompson..."

Both watched Eve walk across the stage, take her diploma and shake some hands and move her graduation tassel to the other side. That was it; she was finally done.

Everyone was thankful that it was such a beautiful summer day as the graduates and their families convened in the green space out front of the building. Eve ran over to Aziraphale and Crowley, careful not to trip in her heels, and threw her arms around the closest one, who happened to be Crowley, who wasn't much of a hugger, to begin with. Crowley patted her on the back. "You're going to crush my ribs"

"Sorry." She stepped back grinning and wrapped her arms around Aziraphale. "You were crying..."

Aziraphale hugged her back. "You didn't tell us you were speaking."

"You didn't even tell us your full name," Crowley added.

"I wanted it to be a surprise. My speech mostly. My name well, I completely forgot to tell you."

"Why?" Aziraphale asked. "Evelyn Rose is a wonderful name."

"Because I know now you're going to call me Evelyn all the time, I just know it."

"Well, now we're only going to do it because it'll annoy you." Crowley had a mischievous grin and Eve smacked him with her rolled-up diploma. "Wait, let's see it then."

"It's not my real diploma. It's just a rolled up piece of parchment with a purple and light blue ribbon. They send the real one in the mail. Oh, by the way," she turned to Aziraphale, "my diploma will be arriving at the bookshop in a few weeks." She shifted her weight back and forth, "Okay, I've got to get out of these heels soon."

"You do look lovely, though, Eve. Blue suits you." Aziraphale said. Eve had unzipped her graduation gown immediately after the ceremony; in it, she felt like she was a baked potato. She wore a light blue dress and nude heels that, while they gave her an extra three inches, were starting to kill her. It had been a rare day when she actually straightened her hair and put in her contacts and wore makeup.

"Thanks!" She grinned and shoved her hands into the pockets of her dress. "It has pockets!"

"Brilliant. Hand me your phone?" Crowley held out his hand.

Eve raised a brow but gave him her phone anyway. "Why?"

Crowley swiped and turned on the camera. "Smile."

"Crowley-"

"Evelyn, smile!" He demanded. She rolled her eyes and held up her fake diploma and smiled ear to ear. It was a genuine smile. It was the smile of someone who had just gotten a three-year weight lifted off of their shoulders.

"I do hope I'm not interrupting," a voice came from behind them.

Eve spun around, "Dr. Corbyn!"

Dr. Corbyn grinned, "I wanted to catch you before you left." She looked at Crowley and Aziraphale. "Hi, I'm Natalie Corbyn, I'm Eve's advisor. You must be Eve's parents." She shook both of their hands while the two shared a quick glance with Eve.

"Anthony," Crowley said, thankful that his sunglasses hid his narrowed eyes.

"Er, Azira." Aziraphale panicked. He was blushing and flustered and to be completely honest, he had never quite worked out what the "A" in "A.Z. Fell" stood for.

"Sorry, I just can't get over how much Eve looks like the perfect mix of you two." She looked back to Eve. "So, Eve, I just got an email about an internship opportunity this morning and I wanted to offer it to you before I did anyone else. It's a paid internship working on the Cologne Cathedral in Germany. It's from September to the end of December and I think it would be a perfect project for you."

Eve kept shooting nervous glances at Aziraphale and Crowley as if asking for some guidance. "I..."

"Eve, this is an amazing opportunity!" Aziraphale assured her.

"Four months in Germany?"

"Evelyn," Crowley said sternly. "You'd be an idiot not to take it." Takes one to know one, Janthony.

"Okay. Okay, yes, I'd love to do it."

"Perfect! I'll email you the information. But for now, enjoy your day. You deserve it." Dr. Corbyn pulled Eve into a hug.

"Thank you, Dr. Corbyn, for everything."

"Hopefully I'll see you soon." She waved goodbye to Aziraphale and Crowley, "It was a pleasure to meet you," and walked away to join the rest of the academic staff.

Eve wiped at her eyes, careful not to smudge her makeup.

"Care for lunch?" Crowley asked.

"A table for three miraculously just opened at The Ritz," Aziraphale added.

A glass of champagne will not get you drunk. Three glasses of really good champagne will get you singing "Angel Eyes" by ABBA in the back seat of a Bentley going seventy miles-per-hour in SoHo on the way to an antique bookshop.

Eve was all giggles sprawled across the back seat. She had requested ABBA, but Crowley regretted to inform her that all he had was Queen and tapes that had turned to Queen after being in the car for two weeks. "Fear not," she told them, "for I know it by heart!" Quite honestly, Crowley was more impressed than annoyed that she could remember the lyrics being drunk.

Aziraphale helped her out of the car when they reached the bookshop and she took his arm. "Your eyes are so pretty, Zira. We have the same eyes. And we have the same hair, Crowley!"

"Yes, Eve, we know," Crowley opened the door for them.

"I used to hate my hair," Eve continued. "I thought about dying it, but then I met you and saw how pretty you are. Isn't he pretty, Zira?"

Aziraphale giggled, "Yes, he's beautiful." He led Eve to Crowley's sofa and she took off her cap and tossed it onto his desk.

Crowley just shook his head and sat next to her. "You'd look off with any other hair color, anyway."

"Oh, thank you." She was starting to doze off. Aziraphale sat on the other side of Crowley, the three of them smushed onto the sofa together. Crowley took off his glasses and leaned into Aziraphale and Eve leaned into Crowley. "Thank you for today... For being there for me..." she yawned. "You've become like, my only family, you know?"

"We wouldn't have missed it, Eve." Crowley ran his hand through her hair.

"I love you guys..." Crowley turned to look at Aziraphale, who had a soft expression like his heart had just melted.

"We-" Crowley turned back to Eve, but she was fast asleep, nuzzled against his chest.

"Should we wake her?" Aziraphale asked.

Crowley shook his head and whispered, "No, leave her be. She looks too peaceful." He gently readjusted his position so that his arms were wrapped around her, with Aziraphale's arm wrapped around him, and gently rubbed circles on Eve's back. Crowley was not a touchy-feely person, but he supposed it was something worth getting used to.

The speech is actually my own recycled High School Salutatorian speech! I don't own rights to pretty much anything else in this story, but I do own that speech, so I ask that you respect that.


	5. Meet Me in Paris

There were few things that Crowley cared about. At the top of his list was, of course, Aziraphale. He also cared about his Bentley, his expensive fashion taste, his music, and his house plants, though he cared for them in his own, tyrannical way. Of all the things he cared about, for the longest time, only one person— or ethereal being— remained on that list.

But now, there was another person. And that person was 400 miles away in Cologne, Germany. She had been for three months at that time.

It didn't take very long for Eve to be away before she started receiving almost daily phone calls checking up on her. She assured Aziraphale and Crowley that she was doing just fine and insisted that they would do weekly phone calls, but daily would simply not do.

Eve was too busy to do much during the week. Dr. Corbyn had helped her to find a shared flat in Cologne and she worked long hours in the basement of the Cathedral, helping to restore and preserve art, stone, and even the stained glass. On the weekends, since she had off, she had decided to take advantage of the opportunity she had of being on the continent and travel to other countries for a few days.

Aziraphale and Crowley, of course, didn't mind the alone time they had. Suffice to say, Aziraphale's bed had been put to good use.

Aziraphale had finally gotten Crowley to join him to his favorite sushi restaurant despite years of Crowley refusing. Crowley begrudgingly admitted that he actually enjoyed it; now all Aziraphale had to do was convince Eve to try it.

They would never admit it, but Aziraphale and Crowley had come down with a case of Empty Nest Syndrome, and they had only known Eve for a few months. They would often find themselves saying, "Eve would like this..." almost everywhere they went. And they thought they had each otherwhipped.

Eve called Crowley's cell one night when the two were snuggled together on the sofa, Crowley between Aziraphale's legs and Aziraphale playing with Crowley's hair. Crowley picked it up and put it on speaker, "What's up, kid?"

"Am I on speaker?"

"Yes."

"Hello, Evelyn dear," Aziraphale spoke up.

"Hi~" they could hear the smile in Eve's voice. With phone calls being reduced to only a week, they became the highlight of Eve's weeks sometimes. "I just got done for the day."

"Long day?" Crowley asked.

"Yeah I had to go up into one of the steeples and I hated it. I can climb ladders just fine, but not when they're completely vertical and confined in such a dark, tiny space."

"How are you doing otherwise?" Aziraphale asked.

"I'm, er..."

"Evelyn? Is everything okay?" Aziraphale asked in a panicked tone.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine! I'm just... feeling a little homesick, is all. I've got a month left and the anticipation is getting to me and on one hand, I'm sad to see it end but on the other, I really miss you guys and I can't wait to come back."

Crowley thought for a moment, then asked, "Why don't we come to visit and meet you in the middle?"

"And what's the middle?" She asked.

"Paris?"

Aziraphale perked up, "We can get crepes!"

Eve giggled. She had heard the crepes story before, although it was Crowley that filled her in that Aziraphale had decided to go to Paris in 1793 dressed as an aristocrat and he had to save him from getting his head chopped off, though Eve had to agree with Zira to a point. Crepes were good and if she would also gladly die for some. "I haven't been to Paris yet, so it'll be perfect!"

"Next weekend?" Crowley asked.

Eve looked over at her calendar pinned to her wall. "Sounds good."

Previous weekends had been marked with trips to various countries. She'd been to Italy a few times now, each trip to a different city, like Rome and Tuscany and Florence and Venice. She'd been, of course, all around Germany by then. She made a quick trip to Amsterdam one weekend and Vienna the next. She'd gone to Switzerland just for the chocolate and Belgium because she really wanted to see how great their waffles were.

She had gotten a week off and decided to go to Mykonos in Greece and only listened to ABBA and watch Mamma Mia! while she was there.

On a long weekend, she went to Poland and visited Warsaw and then decided to visit Auschwitz. She had been to the camps in Germany and while they were horrific and sad, something about being at Auschwitz hit her hard. So Crowley had gotten a phone call from a sobbing Eve from the train bathroom, that she just needed a hug. Crowley was a click away from booking a flight to her before she calmed down and said she was fine.

She was getting the biggest hug when he saw her, but she would have to be the one who initiated it. He had to keep up appearances, of course. Crowley was an adamant non-hugger unless your name was Aziraphale or Evelyn. Crowley was not touchy-feely. He was clingy. He liked to betouched and snuggled and he and Aziraphale had literally been joined at the hip since being together, but he was not touchy-feely, and he would take that to the end of the universe. And even then, it had taken him a while to get used to having not only a boyfriend who was touchy-feely but also a **daughter** who was.

That had started back at Eve's graduate when Dr. Corbyn, her advisor, had commented how much alike Crowley and Aziraphale Eve looked. It became a running joke that they had a twenty— now twenty-one-year-old daughter— who looked exactly like her parents. The entire summer was spent doing "family" things, like going on picnics in the park and going out together.

Random passersby would comment, "Oh, your daughter is so beautiful," "She looks just like you," "I can see she gets _ from you." The three of them would smile and nod and then laugh for hours about it afterward. Eve had even assigned them roles. Crowley was Dad, even though he was more like a mom, but she just couldn't bring herself to call the demon mom, so he was Dad. Aziraphale was just Zira. She couldn't call them both Dad, as that would only cause confusion and, she feared, nonstop Dad Jokes, so he was just Zira.

None of them were exactly sure when it stopped being a joke and started being real. Perhaps it was when someone who knew Eve greeted them as Mr. and Mr. Thompson and no one corrected them. Or maybe it was when Aziraphale and Crowley started referring to Eve as their daughter unironically and even when Eve wasn't present. Maybe it was made official when Eve wrote on her liability waiver for her internship under Emergency Contacts that Anthony Crowley and Azira Fell were her Fathers.

Whether Crowley and Aziraphale had adopted the lonely girl they met only a few months prior or Eve had adopted the two supernatural entities, it wasn't exactly clear to any of them. What was clear, was that they were a family, and that's all that mattered in the end.

Eve never mentioned her biological parents and Aziraphale and Crowley never pressed the subject. They didn't know if they were alive or dead; if Eve had left them or they left her. They knew she wasn't in contact with them and hadn't been since she started university. They knew she had received so many scholarships that she didn't have to worry about paying her tuition, but still worked her ass off in secondary school so that she was able to put all of that money away for things like housing and being able to take those weekend trips.

"I'll see you soon, then," Eve said. They said their goodbyes and hung up, Eve's spirits already lifted.

There was a cafe next door to hotel Aziraphale, Crowley, and Eve stayed at. Though Eve was staying in the room next to their's, she had gotten into Paris late and told them to just meet her at the cafe.

After she checked in and put her bags in her room, she went outside and immediately spotted them, but how they were sitting, their backs were turned to her. She ran up and threw her arms around Aziraphale, who was the closest. "Hi!"

He tensed up, "Heavens, Evelyn!"

She giggled, "Sorry, couldn't help it."

"Crowley, why are you staring?" Crowley was staring at them with his mouth slightly agape.

"Your hair!"

"Oh!" She let go of Aziraphale and stepped so she was standing in front of both of them. She had cut her hair off to below her ears and it had grown out to her shoulders, but it was still drastically shorter than how it was when she left for Germany.

Crowley stood and reached out and ran his hand through her hair. "You never said anything."

"It's just hair. It'll grow back. Do you not like it?"

"We never said that."

"I think it suits you very well, my dear. Is there anything else new to you?" Aziraphale asked.

"Er, actually, yes." She pulled off her coat. On one forearm, she had an angel wing that was just black outlines, and on the other, a shaded angel wing. She pressed her forearms together to create the full picture. "I got them on a whim. For my guardian angels." She looked up at the two of them.

Aziraphale's face softened and Crowley pulled her into a tight hug, appearances be damned. She hummed and hugged him back and felt content.

The tattoos really were an impulse decision. She was walking home to her flat in Cologne one night and passed the tattoo parlor she did every night. She was only curious and stepped inside and perused the artist's portfolio. Most were basic tattoo designs, others were photos of custom designs he had done that showed just how vast his talent was. They were very beautiful, but most of them were big and on peoples' forearms or backs and Eve could never see herself with something like that. She would want something small and meaningful.

And then she found them. It was just a set of angel wings, but her mind immediately jumped to Zira and Crowley. So she sat down in the artist's chair and had him do just outlines on one and shade the other. One for each of them. Now they would always be with her. Although, as soon as she'd left the tattoo parlor, she was worried about how she was going to tell them and what they were going to say. Crowley had a tattoo on the side of his face of a snake. And Aziraphale certainly didn't have any tattoos. So, she decided to just push off telling them until she absolutely had to.

The haircut wasn't anything of great importance. It was just that her long hair served as a safety hazard and was getting in her way at work, so she chopped a good bit off. She just forgot to tell them.

They ate at the little cafe and had crepes. She was showing them photos of the Cathedral, of the work she was doing, but most of the inside. She had promised them since Crowley couldn't actually come to visit and go into the Cathedral, being a demon and all, so pictures were the next best thing.

And then Crowley asked out of nowhere, "Who's Silas?" with a raised eyebrow and a curious smile when a notification popped up that she had a text message from him.

Eve's face turned red and Aziraphale asked, "Evelyn, did you meet a boy? Does he work with you in Cologne?"

"I-" she tried before Crowley swiped through her photos and finally found the bunch of her and Silas together.

She had met him when she went to Mykonos. He worked at the Inn she stayed at and they hit it off pretty quickly. He was charming and tall, dark, and handsome. His green eyes contrasted with his olive skin and dark hair was almost unfair. It was a rather cinematic experience; him taking her around the island and cooking for her and them falling for one another. He texted her 'good morning' and 'good night' texts and he wanted to come visit her in London

"Oh, Eve, he's very cute!" Aziraphale said, peering over Crowley's shoulder to look at the photos.

"Oh, God..." She covered her face and sank lower in her chair.

"How old is he?" Crowley asked.

"Er, he's twenty-six."

"Into older men, are we?" Crowley wiggled his brows and Eve kicked his shin.

"He's not that much older than me. Only by five years."

"Well, I just hope you're being careful, Evelyn, we wouldn't want-" Aziraphale said but Eve cut him off and stood quickly from her chair.

"-Changing the subject! C'mon, let's go be tourists." Her face was as red as a tomato by then and she started to quickly walk away, but she turned back. "Gimme that," and snatched her phone back from a snickering Crowley.

Nobody mentioned Silas for the rest of the day, which Eve was thankful for. They went to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre and they walked past the Bastille and Crowley and Aziraphale told the 1793 story for the fourth time Eve's heard it. She never complained though; when they both told a story together, they always exaggerated a bit and were both equally as dramatic.

They ended their day the way they ended most days— with good food and wine and sharing deserts among them. Eve missed it so much, being away from them in Germany. She was so busy during the day that she came home exhausted and made herself a pb&j and called it a day. The stress and nonstop working and horrible diet thinned her out even more so than she already was. She was surprised Zira wasn't fussing over her. Really though, Crowley was the fussier one.

Afterward, they took their time walking back to the hotel. They took the scenic route and several detours. Every few minutes they stopped and Eve took a dozen photos. When they got back to the hotel, at last, it was late and Crowley shuffled off to bed and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Aziraphale always marveled at how quickly he could fall into a deep sleep.

He would eventually lie in bed with Crowley. He had no use or want for sleep, but he did enjoy cuddling. He also served as Crowley's personal heat source. Though Crowley resided in a human form, he still maintained his cold-bloodedness from being a serpent. He was cold in the hottest Summer months and he was especially cold in the Winter. Aziraphale had tried to get him to dress more appropriately for the weather, but the demon refused because of his "aesthetic." So he loved being so close to Aziraphale since he was made of warmth. He was like the sun, just radiates light and heat.

But Crowley was passed out regardless, snoring away and only slightly shivering. Aziraphale stood outside on the balcony, really only big enough for two people, with a book in his hand. He would read through the night until his eyes grew tired and then spend the rest of the night gazing at Crowley, running his fingers through his soft, red hair.

Eve came outside soon after. Her wet hair was pulled up onto a bun on the top of her head and she had a blanket wrapped tightly around her. The balconies were only two feet apart from one another. She shivered when the cold air hit her but smiled through it. "Couldn't get to sleep, either?" She asked.

"I don't sleep, remember?"

She nodded, "Oh yeah, that's right. I think you should give it another try, you'll probably like it. Or well, your body might appreciate it." She pulled the blanket tighter. It definitely wasn't a blanket from the hotel. It was worn and its colors faded. Not to mention, it was covered in puppies. Her pajamas were also covered in puppies, but they were wearing sweaters.

"Crowley sleeps enough for both of us." He opened the door to their room slightly and set his book inside. Eve had never seen Zira in "casual" clothes. She had always seen him so dressed up: bow tie, waistcoat, pressed slacks, the works. Now, he was wearing tartan flannel bottoms and a jumper.

Eve sighed and could see the cloud her warm breath made in the cold air. "Aren't you cold?" She bounced on the balls of her feet a little, trying to gain some body heat.

"Not really," he said. "I don't really get cold. I'm pretty much warm at all times."

He heard her whisper, "Bastard," under her breath before she handed him her balled up blanket. "Hold on to this." Then, she gripped the wrought iron railing and threw her legs over.

"Evelyn Rose Thompson, what in Heaven's name are you doing?"

"Ssshh!" He kept one hand gripped on the railing and reached the other out for Aziraphale to grab, which he took with a deadly grasp, and she carefully stepped onto Aziraphale's balcony. She was spread eagle between the two platforms.

"Evelyn, oh, please be careful." She held her breath and pushed off and Zira wrapped both his arms around her and held her tight. "Never ever do that again."

Eve relished in Zira's warmth. "I'm fine, just help me over the railing." When she did, she wrapped her blanket around her again and Aziraphale wrapped his arms around her again. Her chill melted away. Zira smelled of cocoa and old leather binding and the vinegary smell of old pages. He smelled like home. "You're not upset with me, are you, Zira?"

"Whatever could I be upset with you for?" He asked.

"The tattoos? And Silas?"

"Eve... No, I'm not upset about either of those things." He pulled away just enough so that he could look down at her. "Do I wish you had told us and given us a heads up? Yes, of course. But I'm not mad or upset." He gave her a slight smile, but she still looked worried. "I just want you to be safe, Eve. But most of all, I want you to be happy, and if this Silas makes you happy, then that's all that matters, right?"

"Right. And... you don't have to worry about us being safe, at least not yet. We've... well, I've never..."

Aziraphale looked relieved. "Good. That's good. And as for your tattoos, I think they're lovely." He took a hold of her arm— the one with the shaded wing— and examined it. Eve's aura of loneliness had diminished long ago. He wasn't sure when it all disappeared, but he remembered that there was no sign of it on the day of her graduation.

She was still shy and sometimes anxious. Being out of school had helped mellow her out a lot, but she still had her moments. She had grown much more confident and carried herself differently than when he had first met her. She didn't try to hide behind her hair anymore and even adopted a new sense of style. Eve gave too much credit to Aziraphale and Crowley. She changed all on her own, they both knew that, but she didn't.

"Dad has a tattoo, too," she said, bringing Aziraphale out of his thoughts. It still took him back when he heard her refer to Crowley as "dad." He'd never thought he'd see the day when Crowley was a parent.

"That isn't really a tattoo," he told her. "He's always had that, ever since the Garden. It's his demonic mark."

Eve rolled her eyes. Crowley, to her at least, was the furthest thing from a demon. From what Crowley had told her about the other demons in Hell, they were repulsive monsters and didn't have their wings anymore. Crowley still had his, and Eve could only think it was because deep down, he still had a sliver of angelic grace. Demons don't fall in love with angels. Demons don't have families.

"I think you should get a tattoo, Zira." She rested her head on his chest, basking in the warmth as a gust of cool wind came by.

"Absolutely not!"

"What about one of those temporary ones that you stick on with water?"

"... Possibly."

They stayed like that for a while having mumbled conversations. Eventually, Aziraphale sent Eve back to her room but refused to let her hop between the balconies again. No, she took the "long" way and went through their hotel room and back to her's.

Aziraphale just shook his head and smiled fondly to himself. As he got into bed and pulled Crowley into his arms, who in his sleep, nustled up against Aziraphale as close as he could to steal his warmth, he realized what Eve's aura was now. It was no longer loneliness, but overall happiness and love. That, at least, Aziraphale and Crowley would take partial credit for.


	6. Not Just Human's Best Friend

Just as when raising young Warlock, hoping that he would grow up to be more evil or more good, but ended up just being a normal child, they had hoped Eve would be more like them.

Of course, appearance-wise, she had the best of both of them: Aziraphale's eyes and Crowley's hair. She had Crowley's sarcastic sense of humor, Aziraphale's intelligence and love for reading. When they had visited her in Paris, Crowley had hoped that she had finally adopted his sense of style. It was like that for a while, at least.

Crowley had gone shopping with her a few times. He made Eve try on things she wouldn't otherwise and found that she actually liked how she looked in them. She'd try and wiggle her way out of embarrassment, saying she was too short or "didn't have the right body." It only took Crowley telling her, in a stern, loving tone, for her to never mention it again.

"Evelyn Rose, shut up, your body is quite actually perfect. I've been around for 6000 years and trust me when I say, looking like you're starving yourself is not exactly attractive. Now go try this on." It was the last time Crowley had to tell her otherwise.

But now, as Eve went around Aziraphale's bookshop, dusting, he realized she may have adopted Aziraphale's style after all. She had found a vintage thrift store nearby and asked him to join her. Crowley didn't think it was going to be an early vintage shop, though. And with the only woman Aziraphale new presently around Eve's age was Anathema Device, Eve herself looked like a Victorian witch. Not that she looked bad in the long wool skirt and the long-sleeved blouse, she always looked nice, but it was a style that made Crowley go, "That's definitely Aziraphale's kid."

Customers got a kick out of it. Looking at both Aziraphale and Eve, they thought it was some sort of uniform.

It was February and Silas would be there in a few days to spend the weekend with Eve. They had been talking almost nonstop, her thumbs and face constantly glued to her phone.

Aziraphale thought it was all very sweet, but Crowley had suspicions of the boy. Although, Crowley didn't trust anybody, so it wasn't too out of the ordinary. Eve had prepared Silas for the interrogation he was about to receive when he came, but he just laughed it off and said everything would be fine and Eve didn't really have the heart to tell him that if he screwed up even in the slightest, he'd probably be smited.

With her internship over, she also was in a slump finding a job. So, Aziraphale said she could work at the bookshop for the time being. It was easy enough, as Aziraphale didn't really have any managerial qualities, didn't care what Eve did, and had no intention of selling any books.

Sometimes, they would sell books Aziraphale really didn't care for, and if he had several copies of them. With each person that came up to the register, Eve looked to him for approval. She knew the Wilde's were completely out of the question, as were the Bibles and the prophetical texts.

Not that many people entered the shop anyway. Most days, Eve was getting paid to sit around and read. Best job ever. Occasionally, Eve would get bored. So she pulled out her laptop and began to take stock of every book Aziraphale owned. She figured she might as well start sooner than later since she would probably be sixty when she finished.

When she got to Aziraphale's Bible collection, of which she found that he had many versions of the same thing, and only one where it mentions Aziraphale losing his flaming sword, she noticed it was missing something.

So she returned the following day with her bag and pulled out a huge, leather-bound book. It was not as old as Aziraphale's other Bibles, but it wasn't brand new either. It was just to add to his collection. It was a book Eve had that Aziraphale didn't, if anyone could believe it.

"What's that, Evelyn, dear?" Aziraphale asked as he approached the counter.

"You don't have a Torah," Eve said and handed him the book. It looked older than it was from the wear and tear it had gone through. It had been read over and over, after all. "Well, actually, it's a TaNaKh. The Torah, the Nevi'im, and the Ketuvim."

The corners of Aziraphale's mouth turned up as he flipped through the book. It was all in Hebrew. Eve had written her name in Hebrew next to the stamp of the Jewish day school she had taken it from. Inside, in the margins, Eve had taken notes on the text in English. The book radiated love; it was most likely the first one she had owned and here she was, giving it to Aziraphale for his own bookshop. Of course, he never sold any of his Bibles, or Prophecies, or Wilde's, but they were there for patrons to admire.

It looked perfectly placed amongst the shelves.

"So what you're telling me, is that you, an Angel and a Demon, have a Godson who's the Antichrist, and a friend who's a witch, and you get stuck with a human for a daughter?" Eve asked over brunch. They were at her favorite cafe. They only went there for Sunday brunch, however, because she said it was a socially acceptable occasion to drink so early in the morning in public.

Aziraphale winced when she said the last part, "Evelyn, dear, don't say it like that; like being human is anything less than extraordinary."

"It is, though, at least compared to you two."

"To be frank," Crowley said, "when we first met you, we thought you were something. It was too much of a coincidence for someone named Eve to land on our doorstep. We thought you were possibly a second Antichrist, or maybe a Prophet? But, no, you're just Evelyn Rose."

She pouted, "Yeah, just Evelyn Rose."

"And stop saying we got stuck with you!" Crowley continued. "You can't get stuck with something you chose and wanted in your life." He immediately regretted saying it just as the words left his lips. Not that he regretted the words; he meant them entirely. It's just Anthony J. Crowley always regretted showing his true feelings, although, he had a bad habit of doing just that.

Eve looked at him, speechless for a moment before she smiled. "You really are the worst demon ever, you know? You're very kind and fair and caring. I've never actually seen you do anything evil, Dad. You just cause some minor inconveniences and they always end up backfiring on you. You're dating an Angel you have a daughter it's all very sw-"

"Don't say it," he growled.

"Sweet." She grinned and finished off her mimosa.

"Eve praises you and all you do is glare, but if I do it, Crowley, you near threaten me," Aziraphale said.

"And you, Aziraphale," Eve continued on her rant, "are quite possibly one of the worst angels ever. I mean, I'm sure there's plenty of dick angels-"

"Language, Evelyn," Aziraphale cut in.

"-But you're the most hedonistic, indulgent creature ever." A blush spread across Aziraphale's cheeks and Eve shrugged. "Our family is quite a mess, don't you think? It's very ironic and very dysfunctional and I love you both very much for it."

Aziraphale's cheeks had turned a darker shade and Crowley had a grin plastered across his face. Not because Eve bluntly threw their true selves right in their faces, but because it was funny, their little family. Calling them a family was funny in and of itself.

Said family probably turned a lot of heads as they walked down the street if any of the three really bothered to look.

Aziraphale's knit-gloved fingers were intertwined with Crowley's leather-gloved ones and Eve, bundled up in her gloves and scarf and beanie and thick wool coat, had her arm wrapped around Crowley's. Crowley had still refused to wear a proper winter coat in order to maintain is aesthetic, but Eve could feel him shivering and inching closer to Aziraphale, who radiated warmth, with every step.

"We should have d - drove." Crowley shivered as the wind picked up.

"It's only a five-minute walk from the shop. I'll make us all some hot cocoa when we get home. With marshmallows." Aziraphale beamed. Of course, he still got cold, but he wasn't chilled to the bone like Crowley was. And Eve, with all her human faults, was teeth-chattering and sniffling.

"I - I'm going to m - make your bathroom into a s - s - sauna." She said.

The streets of Soho were empty for the most part. No one wanted to be out in this weather. To be fair, it was a nice day when the three left for brunch that morning. The time between then and now, the weather had taken a turn for the worst. They were trying to get back to the bookshop as soon as possible.

And then Eve stopped in her tracks. Her arm slipped out from Crowley's, who then stopped, and made Aziraphale stop.

Crowley whipped around. "Eve, for fuck's sake." She was standing at the entrance to an alleyway with her hands over her mouth and tears in her eyes.

"Eve, why did you stop?" Aziraphale asked.

Eve disappeared into the alleyway and Crowley followed her. At least in between the buildings, the stinging wind wasn't too bad.

Eve bent down and reached into a mangled cardboard box. It was then that Aziraphale huffed and finally joined them. "Eve, I-"

When Eve stood back up, she had a tiny, furry bundle wrapped in her scarf. The bundle was whimpering and shaking and tears were running down Eve's wind-blasted cheeks. "It's a puppy..."

"Evelyn..." Aziraphale already knew where this was headed. There was no way he could possibly have a puppy in the bookshop. Too many things to chew and ruin. Plus, it was already too small of a place with their family. When Eve stayed the night, she slept on the sofa; she didn't even have a place in the building to call her own. They couldn't possibly accommodate a dog. And he was sure Crowley's flat in Mayfair didn't allow pets.

"You can't just leave him out here alone, Zira. He's all alone and it's so cold and he's hungry!" Eve choked out. Crowley peered into the cardboard box. It said "Free Puppies" on the front, but that one was the only one left.

"Evelyn, dear, we can't-" Aziraphale tried. He couldn't look at Eve, not when he was crying like that; it broke his heart. To top it all off, Crowley was looking at him pleadingly. The demon loved animals and in all the years Aziraphale knew him, didn't hurt a single one, but would make an afternoon out of feeding the ducks and would quickly lean down and pet every dog he passed on the street.

"Angel, you can't possibly do this to that poor, innocent being. Think of what She would think." Crowley also sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

"Please, Zira? I promise I'll take care of him. I'll train him and everything; he'll be the best dog ever!"

"Okay, okay!" Aziraphale gave in. "Just please stop crying and let's go home?" And almost instantly and held the puppy close and quickly made her way back home.

Crowley turned to Aziraphale with a fond smile. "Our daughter's first temptation."

"She got that from you. And I wouldn't call it temptation so much as manipulation."

"Who cares?" He followed Eve. "Anything to make her happy, right?"

Aziraphale sighed. He was right, anything to make Eve happy. She was human after all and had a much shorter lifespan than both Crowley and Aziraphale, so why not make it as good as possible? She did look extremely happy, after she cried, of course. Although, the crying over a cute animal wasn't out of the ordinary. Aziraphale knew she wasn't crying like a bratty child trying to get what she wanted. Aziraphale once found her crying over a video of a dog being adopted into his new family, so he knew she was sensitive to animals. But he also knew that her crying came from a place of fear and uncertainty. If they had left that poor puppy, it would have been dead by the next morning, frozen and starved to death. Eve would have never been able to live with herself.

When they got home, Eve immediately brought the puppy upstairs to the small kitchen, and after throwing a fit that Aziraphale's sink was covered in bloody dust, gave the puppy a hot bath, only having some dish soap to use.

He had giant hazel eyes and too-large floppy ears. He was white with brown patches and had stout legs. Crowley, standing idly by with a warm towel ready, said that he looked like a Beagle and Basset Hound mix. A Bagle Hound.

When he was all clean, Eve placed him into the towel and Crowley dried him off. He was so tiny and so weak from the cold and lack of food, he was basically limp in Crowley's arms.

"I'll go to the store tomorrow and get him all the supplies he needs. But for now..." she opened the fridge to find only a carton of eggs. Eggs and milk. Scrambled eggs would work for a puppy. She took them out, miraculously found a pan and began cooking.

"What will you name him?" Aziraphale asked, sitting across the kitchen table from where Crowley sat with the dog in his arms. He was calm until the smell of eggs cooking reached him and he started to squirm excitedly.

"Don't know yet. I guess I've got to get to know him a little more before I can give him a name, you know?" She placed the plate of eggs and a bowl of water down on the floor and the dog jumped out of Crowley's arms to inhale the food.

It was one of those nights that would end with Eve sleeping on the sofa in front of the fireplace once again. But for that moment, she was on the floor, petting the puppy while Aziraphale read a book and Crowley leaned his head against his angel's shoulder.

"Abel," Eve finally said.

"What about him, kid?" Crowley asked, thinking about the Abel of Cain and Abel. Poor Kid.

"That's his name. Abel. It's good, isn't it?"

Though her back was to him, she could sense Crowley's eye roll. "It's a wonderful name, Eve, love," Aziraphale said.

"Abel," Eve said in a baby voice. The pup perked up, his long ears flopping about. "Yeah," she beamed, "Abel."

She didn't fall asleep on the sofa, not at first at least. She ended up curled up on the floor in front of the dying fire with Abel sleeping soundly at her middle. Crowley, who had begun to doze off, stood to go to bed and rubbed his eyes. "Should we wake her?"

"No, best not..." Aziraphale set his book down and stood, leaned down and gently scooped Eve into his arms. "Grab a blanket?" He whispered. They had started to keep an extra blanket downstairs for when Eve stayed the night, which was becoming more often than not. They knew she wasn't very fond of her flatmates, but to choose an old sofa over a bed was pretty big.

Aziraphale, by no means, had a great amount of upper body strength. Sure, he could surprise a lot of people, but his strength wasn't anything to marvel at. But Eve was very light for a human after all. She was so petite for a twenty-one-year-old that most people mistook her for a child.

He gently laid her down on the sofa and she let out a tiny whimper and her brow furrowed in her sleep from the lack of warmth until Crowley laid the blanket over her. Her body relaxed again as she burrowed her face in the blanket and drifted into a deeper sleep.

Crowley was awakened the next morning by his phone ringing. He had set a different ringtone for both Aziraphale and Eve when they called or texted. It sounded like a high-pitched air raid siren and could wake the dead.

He groaned and rolled over and yanked it off the side table and through blurry, half-opened eyes, accepted the call and put it on speaker. "Eve."

On the other side, he could hear Eve sobbing. He shot up, his eyes wide. "Eve, what's wrong?!"

"I took Abel to the pet store, a - and they gave him a biscuit and told him h - he was a good boy!" Eve sobbed and rested her head against her steering wheel. She was currently parked out front of the pet store, with a very confused Abel sitting in the passenger seat. "It was so cute!"

Crowley groaned and rubbed his hand down his face and flopped back onto the mattress. "Evelyn... Do you know what time it is?"

"It's the-" -sniff- "-it's the afternoon."

"Shit, wait, it is?" He glanced over at the clock. It was half-past one.

"Yes!" She took a deep breath. "Can I come over?"

"Only if you're done crying."

"No promises," and then she hung up.

Crowley sighed and decided it was time to get out of bed anyway. He rolled out of bed and padded his way to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee that was still miraculously hot and made his way downstairs to the bookshop. Aziraphale was in the backroom, sorting out a shipment of new old books that had come his way.

"Ah, he rises from his eternal slumber." Aziraphale joked and earned a sneer from the demon.

"Your daughter called me crying, that's why I'm up." He settles into the sofa, still only in his sleepwear, without his sunglasses, and his hair a mess.

Aziraphale's eyes widened. "What happened? Is Eve okay?"

"She's fine!" Crowley waves a dismissive hand. "She was crying over how cute Abel was and the staff at the store fussed over him and gave him a treat or something."

"Oh. Alright then." He relaxed. "Why is she always my daughter when it's inconvenient to you?"

"Why is she always my daughter when she's inconvenient to you, angel?" He retorted.

"Hm. Have you noticed that Eve's been rather emotional lately? She barely teared up at her own graduation, yet for the past few days, she's been crying a lot more than usual. Do you think she's all right?"

"Well, maybe she's-" and then it hit him. "Oh. I forgot they do that."

"Forgot they do what, dear?"

"Well, you know. That thing that women do once a month..." Crickets. "Oh, don't give me that absolute clueless look. You know! When their hormones get all out of balance and they - you know!"

"Crowley, you keep saying 'You know' but the matter of the fact is, I don't know!"

"Ugh! Period, angel! Menstrual cycle!"

"Oh! Why didn't you just say so?"

Crowley put his face in his hands. "You're so clever... how are you so dense sometimes?"

"Should we do something? For Eve, I mean."

"Don't mention it to her, angel. I mean it. I feel like she will turn evil very quickly and lose her temper."

"Our Evelyn? No, she could never."

Crowley shook his head, "Just don't say anything, angel."

A few moments later, there was a knock at the back door of the bookshop that was for easy access to the apartment above, should the owner not want to go through the shop to get to their flat, but Aziraphale was never in need of that. It wasn't a door Aziraphale and Crowley really ever used, as it led to an empty car park, but Crowley always made sure that there was a space out front of the shop for his Bentley.

Eve had found it by chance. She circled the block looking for a space, this being the first time she had driven to the shop and not taken the Tube and found the secret spot. But the back door was locked.

Crowley snapped his fingers and yelled, "Door's open!" Seconds later, Abel came bounding into Aziraphale's backroom and pouncing on Crowley. "Oof! Yes, yes, hello, Abel." The pup was all ears and tongue.

"Abel!" Eve yelled coming through the door. The dog jumped down from Crowley's lap and awaited its owner. Eve came into the back room holding a shopping bag and a dog bed. Her eyes were still slightly red and puffy from crying earlier, but you could never tell from her mood.

She set down the bed next to the sofa and set the bag down. "Sit!" Abel sat and tilted his head, his ears flopping to one side. "Lay down." She commanded and he obeyed. "Good boy!" She dug into the bag and pulled out a pouch of tiny treats and fed him one. "They said to give him a treat every time he does something good so that he knows to do it again."

"Why is his leg bandaged up?" Aziraphale scooped Abel into his arms and set him on his lap.

"He had to get all his shots. He was so good though! Didn't bark or bite or anything. And now he's got a new collar and all his tags and he's just the handsomest little boy!" Her voice went up only about four octaves, but the frequency made Abel happy, as he started to wag his tail furiously and wiggle in Aziraphale's lap.

Eve looked over at Crowley, who in all the time knowing him, never sat in a chair correctly. But that wasn't why she was looking at him with an amused look.

"What?" Crowley furrowed his brow.

"Want some concealer for that?"

"What? For what?"

"The giant ass hickeys all over you." She giggled and leaned over and picked a particularly big and dark one on his collarbone.

He hissed and flinched back. "Angel!"

Aziraphale had turned a dark red, but continued to play with Abel nevertheless and mumbled a half-assed "sorry" because he really wasn't. He could be covered in hickeys as well, but no one would ever know with his bow tie and a high collared shirt.

"And go put a shirt or a sweater on!" She told him. "It's freezing out!"

"I don't wear sweaters." He grumbled and got up and schlepped up the stairs.

"He listens to you," Aziraphale said. Abel had rolled over with his belly up and Aziraphale was giving him the best of tummy rubs. "So, when is your fellow coming again?"

"Silas?" He nodded. "He's coming in a few days... and he's not 'my fellow!'"

"Then what is he?"

"My boyfriend? But 'fellow' makes it sound like we're in the 1930s."

"He still has to pass my test!" She heard Crowley say coming down the stairs. "I need to make sure this guy doesn't have any funny ideas."

Eve gave Aziraphale a pleading look as Crowley plopped back on the sofa next to her. Aziraphale gave her a look that said, "Don't worry, I'll reel him in."

"And what exactly are you two going to do while he's visiting?" Crowley asked.

"Show him around. He's only going to be here for three days; it's not like we can do absolutely everything."

"I think it's lovely he's coming all the way here just to visit you, Eve." Aziraphale smiled. "I'm sure he's a fine young man and I can't wait to meet him."

"He's excited to meet you both two." She said. "I've told him all about my two odd dads. He's pretty intrigued."

"Oh, great." Crowley rolled his eyes.

"Be nice!"

"Evelyn, I'm not nice!" He barked back.

"Yes, you are." She leaned over and quickly planted a kiss on his cold cheek, with a smug grin, knowing he wouldn't do anything.

And he didn't. His cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink, he frowned and a growl rose from the back of his throat and crossed his arms, but he did nothing.

Abel jumped up onto his lap and Crowley held the pup close. "Abel's my favorite now."


	7. Shattered on the Floor

Absolute silence. Crickets. You could hear a bloody pin drop. And it was **fucking **awkward.

Crowley stood with his arms crossed, glaring at Silas, and Eve was glad he was wearing his sunglasses because for sure, his pupils were probably thin as paper, like a viper ready to attack.

Eve was trying to make herself as small as possible and slink away into the bookshelves. Poor Silas, she thought. He was being such a trooper. He stood next to her with a polite smile on his face. He had tried to speak up, but Crowley held his hand up and put a stop to that at once.

"Anthony, really-" Aziraphale tried. No use. Crowley was silent and continued his glare. Eve wondered if he really was glaring a hole through Silas.

"Dad!"

"Alright, I'm done," Crowley said and turned away and headed to the back. Eve gave Aziraphale a bewildered look, but he was just as confused.

"Well then, you two have fun." Aziraphale tried to sound as cheery as he could. "Be safe, don't stay out too late."

"Thanks... Bye, Dad!" Crowley only gave a silent wave. "Bye, Zira. Good luck with whatever mood he's in."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine." That was a lie.

"It was nice meeting you!" Well, Silas at least tried to say goodbye to Crowley. When he didn't answer, Aziraphale filled in.

"Lovely meeting you, Silas."

The young couple left the store and when they were far enough away, Eve took Silas' hand. "I am so sorry about that! I knew he was going to be rough, but I didn't imagine it'd be like that!"

Silas just laughed it off. "It's okay. He's your dad, he's only looking out for you."

"Looking out for me doesn't have to involve threatening every boy I bring home." To be fair, it was the first boy Eve had brought home.

Silas squeezed her hand. "Let's forget about it and enjoy our time together, Eve."

She squeezed back and grinned. "Yeah, okay."

"What in Heaven's name was that?"

"What was what?" Crowley asked and took a sip of his drink.

"That, Crowley! You probably petrified the boy!"

"Good."

"Good? What do you mean good? Don't you want Eve to be happy?"

"Of course I do! But she's not going to be happy with him!"

"How could you possibly know that? You didn't even speak a word to him."

"I didn't need to, I know everything I need to know about him."

"And what is that, Crowley?"

"That he's weak. I don't know what exactly it is about him, but there's something and I don't like it."

"Crowley-"

"Angel, he is going to end up breaking Eve's heart, mark my word!"

"Well, why didn't you tell her from the getgo?"

"Because she has to figure it out for herself."

Aziraphale's face dropped. "Crowley, now that's just cruel."

"We can't protect her from everything. She's an adult and she needs to do these things on her own." He looked pained to say it. "We can help her pick up the pieces but..."

"I think you've been reading too many parenting books." He poured his own drink.

"Actually, it was a mommy blog online."

Aziraphale sighed and took a long sip.

"My legs are exhausted." Eve giggled as she fumbled with her keys.

"I don't think I've eaten so much greasy food in my life," Silas said.

"It's the grease that gives it the flavor." She finally got her keys in the door and gave it a big shove. Abel was right there, waiting for her, tail going ninety miles per hour. "Hello, Abel!"

Silas grinned and knelt down. "Hello, Hello!" He scratched behind his ears and Abel was in love.

"Your dog has been whining nonstop." One of Eve's flatmates, Jess, said from the kitchen. "I told him to shut up but he wouldn't listen."

"Hello to you too, Jess. If you'd just pet him, he'd probably calm down."

"I'm not petting that mangy mutt. You got him off the streets; who knows what disease he could have."

"None, since I took him to the vet and he got all his shots."

"Whatever." She was cooking grilled chicken and rice. Jess ate grilled chicken and rice every night. Eve had never actually seen her eat anything but grilled chicken and rice. Eve was convinced that's how she stayed so skinny. That and she was also convinced she was high on drugs 90% of the time. The other 10% she was just sober enough to cook grilled chicken and rice.

"C' mon, Silas, let's go to bed."

Jess' head popped out of their tiny kitchen so fast, Eve was surprised she didn't fall over. "Who's this? You brought a boy home?"

"Oh, for the love of-"

"Wow, Thompson, I didn't know you had it in you."

Silas stood, and being ever so polite, held his hand out. "I'm Silas."

"Jess." She shook his hand and gave an— in Eve's opinion— evil smile. "Where'd you manage to find him, Eve?"

"Eve and I met while she was visiting Greece." He beamed, but in Eve's direction, like his smile was only for her.

"Is this where you've been spending all your time? Running off early in the morning and not getting home until late at night?" She added a wink.

"No, actually-"

"I'm just visiting for the weekend," Silas answered for her. "You must be thinking of Eve spending time at the bookshop?"

"Bookshop?"

Eve wanted to slap a hand over his mouth, but she wasn't fast enough.

"Yes, her father's bookshop."

"Your father owns a bookshop?"

Eve started to say, "It's none of your business."

However, Jess only heard, "Well, one of her fathers does."

"You have two dads?" It wasn't Jess being curious. It was her realizing she had yet another thing to tease Eve about.

"Alright, well, we're super tired and we have a big day ahead of us so we're going to go ahead and go to sleep. C'mon, Silas." She grabbed his arm and tugged him into her bedroom with Abel in tow and slammed the door.

Her room wasn't much. Just a bed; an old mattress on a bed frame that was left there from the previous renters. It creaked with every slight movement and wasn't comfortable at all. She had a tiny table beside her bed that had one or two mementos. A dresser with half of the drawers broken.

Nothing on the walls. No decoration. It was cold and empty. It only reminded Eve how lonely she was. Even with Abel now, it still didn't change the room. It's why she ended up spending most nights at the bookshop. She'd rather lay curled up awkwardly on Aziraphale's sofa. His place was warm and crowded with books and filled with love.

"Erm, I'm gonna uh..." she grabbed the first pair of pajamas she could find from her drawer. "I'm gonna go change in the bathroom."

"O-okay."

She bolted out of her room and to the bathroom and quickly changed. Her heart was beating fast and she felt jittery. Why was she so anxious all of a sudden? She wanted to call her dad or Zira. They'd tell her everything was all right; that she was just overeacting. But her phone was in her bedroom. With Silas. Could she pray to an angel? Just one angel specifically? Or could she summon a demon? No, she'd need candles for that, wouldn't she? Why didn't she know how to do this? Shouldn't her parents have taught her? Horrible parenting.

She grinned the edge of the sink. "Get yourself together, Evelyn." She tried to give a brave face but ended up taking two Benadryl instead. They'd knock her out soon enough.

She returned to her room to find Silas already in bed. He wasn't wearing a shirt. She hoped to God he was wearing pants. "Cute pajamas," he smirked.

"Thanks," she gave a tired smile and climbed into bed next to him. Thank God. Pants. "I'm suddenly so exhausted." Her cheeks felt like they were on fire and her cool sheets were not helping like she'd hoped they would. "Well, goodnight." She turned over and faced the wall and willed herself to go to sleep, for her anxiety to lessen and for the Benadryl to just kick into full gear already.

When she woke the next morning, she was enveloped in a new type of warmth. She gently turned her head over her shoulder and was met with a sleeping Silas. His arm was over Eve, holding her close. This could be nice, she thought to herself.

She reached over and grabbed her phone off of the tiny table. Seven unread text messages, all from Crowley. Four missed calls, two from Crowley, 2 from the shop phone. "Shit," she whispered. She carefully rolled out of bed, making sure not to wake Silas.

She crept out of her room. Her other flatmate, Megan, was making herself breakfast. Megan was much nicer than Jess. She and Eve talked occasionally, but it was only small talk, nothing deep or personal. Megan was engaged to a girl, Lizzie, and the only reason Megan still lived in that horrible flat was that they were saving up for the wedding and a place of their own. Lizzie had only come around once or twice; if they spent time together it was almost always at Lizzie's, though she still lived with her parents, so that put a damper on things. Eve had only seen her the few times that she came to the flat. She was really nice though, like Megan. Always made polite conversation with Eve, like how school was going and such.

She went into the bathroom and shut the door. "Shit." She dialed the shop phone. She figured 1. Crowley was probably still sleeping and 2. she was less likely to be yelled at by Aziraphale. She was very wrong.

"Evelyn Rose, for Heaven's sake, where were you? Why didn't you answer your phone? We called you and texted you and nothing!"

She had to pull the phone away from her ear. She was still a bit drowsy from the Benadryl. She took a deep breath and brought the phone back to her cheek. "... Morning, Zira."

"Answer the questions, Evelyn." He really sounded cross. He had never sounded so cross with her. "We were worried. Crowley was extremelyworried he thought- I finally got him to calm down enough so he would sleep."

"I was home all night, I swear. Silas and I got back from dinner and we went to bed almost as soon as we got back and my phone was on silent. I..." I wanted to cry and call you and have Dad come pick me up so I could spend the night on the sofa. "I'll come by today, okay? Dad isn't mad, is he?"

Aziraphale sighed. "No, he's not mad. You could splash him with holy water, he probably wouldn't ever be angry with you, Eve. He was just worried. Truth be told, Crowley doesn't trust Silas very much."

"Dad doesn't trust anyone, though. He's a demon; they don't trust, period."

"Yes, I know, dear, but-"

A knock on the bathroom door interrupted them. "Eve, are you in there?" Silas asked.

"Shit. Right, yes, I'll be in later, Zira, I've gotta go now."

"Evelyn-"

"Bye-bye, I love you!" She hung up quickly and opened the door. "Hi! Morning. Sorry, I had to make a call and didn't want to wake you."

"'s okay. Just got worried I scared you off." He rubbed a hand through his dark hair and gave a lopsided smile. Shit, he was cute even in the morning.

She shook her head. "C' mon. Let's go get ready. Hungry? There's a nice cafe nearby." That just happens to be close to the bookshop.

Back at said bookshop, Aziraphale had made his way back upstairs to their bedroom. Crowley was still asleep, lightly snoring. He looked so beautiful when he slept. He was always beautiful, as Aziraphale would tell him, but when he slept, he looked almost unreal, like a painting or a marble statue.

He slipped back under the covers and pulled Crowley close and kissed his cheek, just ever so gently. His eyes fluttered open and he smiled tiredly. "Hi..."

"Good morning, love." He lazily kissed him. His lips were slightly chapped and cold. He was almost always cold. Except when they- well...

"What time is it?"

"It's almost half-past nine."

"Too early." He burrowed himself deeper into the blankets and Aziraphale's chest.

"You must get up, dear, Eve is coming over."

"Oh, is she now? Did you talk to her?"

"Yes, she just called. She got in late last night and her phone was on silent. She felt awful when I told her you were worried."

"I'm going to kill her." He grumbled. It wasn't the level of panic he had felt when he thought he lost Aziraphale in the burning bookshop. But she was still important to him. And still, a young woman walking home alone. She was usually good on letting at least one of them know she had gotten home safely.

"No, you're not." He ran his fingers through his hair.

"Fine, I'll kill him."

"Whatever you say, dear."

When they arrived at the bookshop, it was still closed, meaning Aziraphale hadn't unlocked the door yet. "Bloody..." she fished through her bag and pulled out her key. "Hello?"

"Hello, Evelyn, dear." Aziraphale was just putting one book away and grabbing another one from the shelf to read. "Hello, Silas."

"Hello, Mr. Fell." Silas smiled and looked around the room. He was so distracted by the stare-off with Crowley that he didn't get to appreciate the sheer amount of books in such a small shop.

"Is Dad around?"

"He's in the backroom, like always." Eve looked like she was going to jump out of her own skin and it didn't go unnoticed by Aziraphale that she was being conscious about keeping a fair distance away from Silas. "Eve, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I've gotta talk to you." She whispered. "Silas, I'll be right back. Keep- Er... looking at the books, I don't know. Don't touch the Wilde's!" She grabbed Aziraphale's arm and pulled him into the back. Sure enough, Crowley was on the sofa.

"Well, well, look who finally decided to -"

"Listen, I've gotta ask you two something and it's really serious and -"

"Eve, I -"

She cut Crowley off. "Can you two just sit down, shut up, listen, and be parents for like, five god-damned minutes?"

Both of their mouths snapped shut and Aziraphale took a seat next to Crowley in the sofa. Eve ran her hands through her hair, sat down in Aziraphale's desk chair, sat up, paced around the room for a bit, stopped, went back to pacing, stopped, stared at the wall, and finally turned to Aziraphale and Crowley, trying to keep it all together.

"I need to talk to you about something really serious and you can't laugh or judge, okay?" They both nodded. Quite frankly, Eve had never seen them so terrified. What did they think she was going to say? She killed someone? She took a deep breath. "When did... when did you two know... that you were ready to... to, you know?"

Aziraphale looked as if she had just asked him to solve the answer to the Universe. Crowley, however, got it in only mere seconds.

"Oh, for Satan's sake!" He took off his sunglasses and wiped a hand down his face.

Then Aziraphale got it. "Oh! Oh." Eve's entire face was a dark shade of pink and she looked like she wanted to melt into the floor and fall between the floorboards. "W-well, we - I -" he looked to Crowley for help.

"Eve, when - I mean, Aziraphale and I... 6000 years..." He wasn't doing much better at this either. No one really prepares you for the sex talk with your child, and even when they're well into adulthood, they still have questions.

"You just know, Eve. It's the most intimate thing you can do with another person. It should be with someone you love... and trust." Aziraphale said. Perhaps he wasn't the best example; he and Crowley had loved one another for a long time, even if it took them forever to finally admit it.

"He didn't try anything, did he?" Crowley asked.

"No. Well, I didn't even give him the chance to anyway. I had a panic attack in the bathroom and took some Benadryl and was out almost immediately." Now that she said it aloud, she felt even more embarrassed than when it was happening.

"Eve, why didn't you call?"

"My phone was in my room! And I already felt so stupid. And none of you taught me how to summon you without a phone; what sort of bloody parents are you?" Tears threatened to form in the corners of her eyes. She was tired and overwhelmed and stressed.

"Oh, dearheart..." Aziraphale stood and wrapped Eve in his arms.

"And then Dad was mad at me and -"

"Eve, I wasn't mad at you, just worried." He stood too. "But all you've got to do is say the word, and I can get rid of Silas." He shrugged.

"No, no, that's not necessary! I like him it's just - I'm not ready for all of that."

"If he truly cares for you, Eve, then he'll understand."

"And if he doesn't, well, people go missing all of the time when they go on trips." Crowley shrugged. Eve knew he was joking, that he was just trying to make Eve laugh a little. However, Eve wouldn't put it past him to become involved if it was needed.

She rubbed at her eyes. "Everything will be fine. I just panicked because I was overthinking everything. It'll be fine." She smiled. "Promise."

And it was fine. Eve and Silas left and went out for the day, leaving Aziraphale and Crowley mentally drained and not so much believing that their daughter was fine.

"I need a nap after that..." Crowley groaned and sprawled out on the sofa.

"I might have to agree with you, dear." Aziraphale sighed. "I'm worried about her."

"If she says she'll be fine, angel, then she'll be fine."

"I don't know why you won't just tell her. If you're so sure about Silas, why not say something?"

Crowley leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. "I want to be wrong. I want her to be happy... to find her soul mate or whatever." Unfortunately, when it came to instinct, Crowley was seldom wrong.

Eve was very drunk. Silas was drunk, but Eve was very drunk. Drunker than she was after her graduation. Yes, Eve drank casually with Aziraphale and Crowley, but she never got drunk. She hated the feeling.

They had gone out drinking, which was another thing Eve didn't do very often. Silas practically carried her home. She couldn't stand up straight, nor could she walk any better.

"I really need some water." She said through a fit of giggles. She struggled for a few minutes to unlock the door and when she finally did, she almost fell through, which only resulted in more giggles. She held her finger up to her mouth, "Ssshhh, we gotta be quiet!" She whispered, even though she was making all of the noise.

"Okay, let's go to bed, Eve." He held onto her arm and led her to her room.

"Room's spinning... Spinning... Swimming like a fishie!" She brought her hands up to Silas' face. "You're pretty."

He let out a laugh, "You're pretty too, Eve. Now let's- mngh!" She pressed her lips to his, perhaps less gracefully than she had meant to. Silas deepened the kiss and Eve let out a small noise from the back of her throat. Her head was swimming. Silas, mixed with alcohol, was not a good mixture; she could barely think clearly. She didn't like the feeling. She also didn't like the feeling of hands tugging her shirt up.

Amazing how one can sober up in mere seconds. I don't like this, she thought. I'm too drunk and I don't want to do this.

"Woah woah!" Eve broke the kiss and pulled away. Her eyes widened and her breath quickened.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I just... That's not... I'm not ready for that." They were right. You did know when you were ready, and Eve was not, being intoxicated aside.

Silas' confusion— thankfully— melted into an understanding smile. "That's okay, Eve. We don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with."

Eve relaxed, "Thank you. I mean, thanks for understanding. I mean, if we were going to do anything, I'd want to be sober, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, of course." Only, Silas was leaving the next day. So, perhaps it would be the next time they met again. They were already talking about Eve coming to visit once the weather got nicer for a week.

Everything seemed like it was perfect for the next month and a half. Despite Crowley's grumbles, Eve insisted he was such a gentleman, her Greek Prince Charming. He was so sweet and understanding and she was so happy.

Until.

"Silas cheated on me." She let her phone slip out of her hands and onto the floor in front of the sofa, not caring if the screen cracked. Abel gave it a tentative sniff. He hadn't left Eve's side all day.

Her face was blank but her eyes were red and puffy. She'd gotten the text— yes, text— early that morning. She'd cried her eyes out, grabbed Abel, and let herself into the bookshop.

Crowley snatched her phone from off the floor and read the text.

"Hey Eve, I'm really sorry, but I've been cheating on you. Hope you have a happy life. Maybe one day we could be friends."

"That's it? That's all he says? No explanation, just some shitty text?" Crowley was livid. "Eve, say the word, and that little prick is **done** for!"

"Crowley now is not the time to instill violence." Aziraphale was sitting next to Eve on the sofa with his arms around her shoulders. Eve was completely still, like a statue with her hands folded in her lap.

"No... no, if anyone's gonna hurt him, it's gonna be me... But I'm not going to. I just..." She grabbed the pillow and shoved her face into it and screamed. Screamed bloody murder at the top of her lungs.

"Eve, love-" Aziraphale rubbed her back.

"Fuck!" She sat up. "Stupid!" She slammed her fist into the pillow. "Fucking!" Again. "Fuck!" Again.

"Eve! Eve!" Crowley grabbed her wrists. "Stop!"

"I'm pissed!" She tried to squirm out of his grasp, but he only tightened it. She almost got a good swing at him though.

"I know you are! But hitting a pillow isn't going to help! You need to break something."

"Pardon?" Aziraphale asked. What did Crowley think he was going to be breaking?

"C' mon," he took her hand and pulled her upstairs to Aziraphale's tiny kitchen. "Here." He opened the cabinets and took out a plate. It was just a plane porcelain plate, nothing fancy, but when he offered it to Eve, she looked mortified, like he was asking her to break a priceless piece of art. "It's just a plate, Eve." He threw it down to the floor and watched it shatter.

Eve grinned and grabbed a plate and slammed it against the counter. Shards went everywhere.

"What in Heaven's name are you doing up there?" Aziraphale yelled from the back room. He— and Abel— quickly went upstairs and froze at the scene in front of them. The supply of plates and glasses seemed to go on endless as Crowley tossed plates two at a time to the floor and Eve chucked glasses at the wall. "Crowley!"

"Oh, c' mon, Angel, give it a try!"

"It's fun!" Eve took another plate and slammed it against the counter edge and let out a shrill laugh. Abel got as far away from the kitchen archway as he could.

"Fine!" Aziraphale grabbed a glass and threw it to the floor. He had to admit, it did feel good.

They continued their chaotic escapade until Eve finally grew tired. The three of them sat on the floor up against the wall staring at their broken masterpiece. Glass and porcelain covered almost every inch of the kitchen, except for where they sat, of course.

"You're lucky cleaning this up will only take a snap," Aziraphale said.

"Only reason we did it, Angel. Don't you feel much better, Eve?" She didn't answer, only sniffled between the two of them. "Eve?"

She was facing the mess, but she was staring past that. Her mind was far gone from the kitchen and her eyes were full of tears again that freely ran down her cheeks. "Why wasn't I good enough?" She sounded so small and broken. Of course, she did, her heart had just been broken, just like all of the glass on the floor before them.

She turned and faced Crowley. He hated to see her cry. Her eyes were too much like Aziraphale's. "Why?" It was not the appropriate time for an 'I-told-you-so' moment, so he just pulled her in for a hug. He didn't have anything to say that would help her feel better.

She let out a sob and Aziraphale wrapped his arms around her from behind. She clutched his sleeve and Crowley's shirt and cried. This is what Crowley could have prevented if he had just scared Silas off from the getgo; if he had really tried. Or, if he had told Eve he wasn't good for her, and maybe she would have listened. But she was stubborn, and she wouldn't have listened, and she would've continued to date Silas out of spite and still got her heartbroken. He could have forbidden her to see him ever again, but she would have resented Crowley for it. But she wouldn't have been hurt by a stupid boy.

No, Crowley did the right thing, even if it felt wrong. All they could do now was be with Eve and help her pick up all of the broken pieces. Crowley snapped his fingers and the mess on the floor was cleaned and the glasses and plates back in the cabinet. If only it were that easy for Eve.

She didn't go home that night. She stayed on the sofa but didn't sleep. It was very late into the night, or maybe it was very early in the morning, and she lied there with Abel at her side watching the fire in the hearth die down.

She heard footsteps upstairs, and then down the steps. "Can't sleep?" Aziraphale asked.

"No..." She sat up so Aziraphale could sit next to her. She wondered if Crowley made him wear that to bed: the flannel bottoms and the t-shirt and jumper. Not that Aziraphale needed sleepwear since he didn't sleep, but it was probably nicer to snuggle into than trousers and a waistcoat and bow tie.

"Want to talk about it?"

"I keep going over and over in my head, what I might have done wrong... I think it was because I didn't sleep with him." Her voice was so soft, Aziraphale almost couldn't hear her.

"What do you mean?"

"That night before he left. We both got really drunk and we came home and made out and he tried, but I told him no, that I wasn't ready. I thought he understood but..."

"Evelyn, dear, if that was his justification for cheating on you, then he is the lowest of the low. He's already at the bottom of the barrel for cheating in general. How someone could give up the most beautiful, wonderful girl, I'll never know. He'll look back one day and realize you were probably the greatest thing that ever happened to him, Eve."

"I'm nothing special, Zira. I'm just another human girl."

"Stop that, Eve. And stop saying that like being human is a bad thing."

She ignored him. "Can I see your wings?"

"Whatever for?" Still, he unfurled them; a whoosh of white filled the room and draped gently over Eve's shoulders. She leaned closer to Zira, head on his shoulder, and his wing enveloped her. They were as soft as clouds.

"They're magnificent. I'm jealous. I wish I had wings like you and Dad and I could just fly far, far away."

"Crowley asked me to go away with him once. To Alpha Centauri."

"Why didn't you go?"

"There was a world that needed saving. He made the stars, you know? Well, before the Fall, that is. It's the only thing he's ever told me about his time as an angel." Crowley never talked about his time before the Fall. Apparently not even to Zira.

"Why didn't you go afterward then?"

He shrugged. "I suppose we never got around to it. And then we met you." Aziraphale grinned, but Eve only frowned.

"So I'm keeping you from going?"

"What? No, Eve, we -"

"I don't want to hold you two back. That's not fair to you; you should go."

"Evelyn, stop that! Stop thinking you're a burden to everyone, or that you're not good enough. It's complete and utter nonsense and only lies you're telling yourself."

"I just want you to be happy..."

"We are happy! Crowley and I are happy, right here, together. And we have you, a daughter we— in thousands of years— never dreamt of having, but here you are and we love you! You're so amazing, Evelyn. Every day you astonish me. And Crowley thinks that you're the greatest thing to walk this Earth since Freddie Mercury, and that's a huge compliment."

If Eve had any more tears left to cry, she'd be tearing up. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Zira and he wrapped both his arms and wings around her. Imagine being held by quite literally the best hugger in the Universe and the fluffiest blanket to top it all off. "I love you too." She mumbled. She closed her eyes; she was so tired. And she felt so safe and content.

When she finally relaxed and he felt her breathing even out, Aziraphale placed a kiss on the top of her head, granting her sweet dreams.


	8. Bloodied Knuckles and Cursing Angels

**TW/ This chapter is rated M for strong language and attempted sexual assault. Please use caution when reading this chapter.**

* * *

Aziraphale was an Angel. As an Angel, though he was technically "retired" and on his (and Crowley's) own side now, he still tried to present himself as "holier-than-now." By doing that, he did not curse.

Crowley was a Demon. As a Demon, though he was technically "retired" and on his (and Aziraphale's) own side now, he still tried to present himself as mischievous and bad. By doing that, he did curse.

Eve was a human. As an adult human, she cursed. She wanted to get Aziraphale to say "fuck."

He had said it before, as he's told Crowley and Eve, but neither of them personally saw or heard him doing it, so it didn't count.

So Crowley and Eve made it their mission to get him to say it. However, it was much harder than they thought it would be.

Without giving much information, which Eve was thankful for, Crowley had told her Aziraphale had never said it during a sexual exploitation, at least.

Eve had tried the trickery approach, which involved finding the word "fuck" in several books and asking him, "What does this say?" To which Aziraphale would answer, "A word, dear. I've got a dictionary around here somewhere."

It finally boiled down to begging. "Zira, please! Please just say it, say it once!"

He just turned the page of his book. "Evelyn, dear, if you keep up your wailing, I'm going to make sure I say it when none of you are around."

"Ugh!" Then she stomped off to the front of the shop to take stock of the books. It had been two months since Silas had broken her heart. It was May and Eve could no longer find comfort in thick wool sweaters and heavy blankets, a comfort she had found over the past months. Now she tried dressing in lighter materials. Blouses and skirts and dresses. Jeans and a flowy top on that particular day. Crowley said dressing better might make her feel better. It didn't.

She still felt depressed, or rather, it was the best word to describe how she felt most days. She still looked in the mirror and wondered what it was about her that wasn't good enough. Crowley and Zira told her every day that she didn't do anything wrong, that there wasn't anything wrong with her. She didn't believe it though.

Aziraphale had suggested that she go and talk to someone, someone who was unbiased and could help her with the situation with a virgin outlook. She told him no, that she'd be fine, but he could see her aura was changing again. It wasn't lonely, but just sad. That, and she didn't sing anymore.

When Eve was in a good mood, she'd walk around the shop singing to herself. Now, it was dead quiet, and he hated to see her like that.

"Maybe we should go on a trip," Aziraphale suggested to Crowley as he set down his book. "Get out of the city."

"And go where?"

"We can go anywhere, Crowley. Quite literally, we could go anywhere in the world. But it might do Eve well to get away for a while." Eve hadn't done anything since Silas. She would come to the shop early in the morning and not leave until that night, or sometimes even the next morning.

"Eve!" Crowley yelled out from the back room. "Where do you want to go on a bloody trip?"

"Why?" She yelled back.

"Your father thinks you need to get out of the city!"

Aziraphale sighed, "Why must you yell?"

"Outer space!"

"Okay, can't do that! Somewhere on Earth!"

"I don't know then! Throw a dart on a map and let's go!"

The shop bell rang, signaling that a customer— their only one that day so far— has walked in. Eve was sitting at the counter with her laptop and a stack of books cataloging them.

The customer walked up to the counter. "How can I help you?" Eve glanced up at the man before going back to typing. He looked greasy. Not physically; he was rather alright. Older, maybe in his 40s, and dressed business casual. No, he was greasy like a used car salesman is.

"I'm looking for a book."

"Well, then it's a good thing you came here, now isn't it?" She replied with a sarcastic tone that would make her dad proud.

The man just laughed it off. "I mean, a specific book." He leaned forward, "Can you help me look for it?" He was far too close for Eve's liking and she wished Abel was there to bark or growl at the man. He was usually good at scaring away customers from behind the counter, even though he was the sweetest pup and could never hurt a fly. But he had just gotten fixed (the poor dear) and was still healing, so Eve left him at the flat for the day.

"Just one minute." She leaned back in her chair to get more distance between them and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She sent a quick text to Crowley. "Creep. Get out here. Please." Then she slid the phone back in her back pocket and gave a nervous smile.

"So do you work here every day?" He asked her.

"Er, yes, I suppose. When we're open, at least."

"Why is she texting me?" Crowley muttered to himself as he opened his phone. "Shit, Angel, go scare off that customer. Or smite them." Crowley had done it last time— scared them off, that is— and it was Aziraphale's turn.

Aziraphale stood. "What's the diagnosis?"

"Creep."

"Very well then." Aziraphale straightened his waistcoat.

"Tell him to fuck off," Crowley smirked.

"No." Aziraphale walked out into the front and Eve visibly relaxed. "Afternoon, Sir, what is it that I can help you with today?" He came to stand by Eve and wrapped a protective arm around her.

The man glanced between the two of them. Surely they weren't a couple. The shop owner was too... Well, he didn't look the type to be with a young girl. He was probably a family member then.

He gave Aziraphale the title and without hesitation, Aziraphale told him that they did not have that book.

"You didn't even look, though."

"Good sir, I have owned this bookshop for longer than you could possibly imagine and I personally have collected each and every single one of these books. I can assure you, we do not have that particular title. Plus," he glanced down at Eve's laptop screen. "Eve would have come by it when she was cataloging. Sorry, I hope you have luck elsewhere." That was Aziraphale's way of saying, "We don't have this, so kindly get the fuck out of my store."

The man looked irritated. He looked at Eve, who just shrugged like, "Sorry, can't help you."

He looked Eve up and down and smirked, "I can't get your number first?"

Eve pointed at the door, "Out."

"Dinner?"

Aziraphale pointed at the door as well, "Out."

The man glowered at them but left anyway. Eve groaned and leaned into Zira, her face in his chest. She was suddenly very overwhelmed.

Zira rubbed her back. "Eve, love, are you all right?"

"Overwhelmed. Sceeved out." She pulled away and went to the back and up the stairs.

"Eve, where are you going?" Crowley asked.

"I'm gonna take a nap. Are your sheets clean?"

"Are - What?"

"Do the snappy-snap and make the sheets clean, I'm going to sleep in a bloody dark room!"

Crowley gave a bewildered look and snapped his fingers. The sheets were fresh and clean. Eve went into their bedroom, kicked her shoes off, and climbed into bed. She kept the lights off and the curtains shut. "Fuck, stop crying." She rubbed at her eyes and buried her face in the pillow and willed herself to go asleep.

Crowley walked out into the front. Aziraphale was flipping over the 'Open' sign to 'Closed.' "What was that all about?" He asked.

"There was a man in here being a little too familiar with Eve."

"Too familiar by your judgment or by Eve's judgment?"

"Eve's. She was cordial but I could definitely tell she wanted to get as far away as possible. I believe she just got overwhelmed and wanted some alone time and to sleep it off."

Crowley gave an understanding nod. "I'll go check on her later then."

"Later" ended up being five hours later. There was no need to keep the curtains closed because it was dark outside, leaving no light at all in the room. Crowley snapped his fingers and the lamp on the bedside table turned on and he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Eve..." he gently nudged her arm.

"What?" She mumbled.

"Are you hungry?"

"Not really... what time is it?" She started to sit up.

"Er, almost eleven."

"What?" She shot up, immediately alert. "Why didn't you wake me earlier?"

"You were out cold, Eve. We figured it was best to just leave you be. Do you just want to stay here for the night?"

"No, I've gotta get home to Abel. I can't leave him there alone with my flatmates." She got out of bed and put her shoes on.

"Want me to drive you home?"

"No, no, I'll be fine." All she wanted to do was get home and go back to sleep.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Dad, I'll call you when I get home."

Eve went home the same way she always did from Soho to her flat in Fulham. It wasn't a long series of Tube rides, and she usually passed the time listening to music or a podcast.

It was only before midnight, so it wasn't unusual to see people on their commutes home as well. What was unusual was the person that seemed to be following her since she left the shop. She was still a few blocks away from her flat, but the man following her had been on every Tube she had.

She turned off her music and put her earphones in her pocket. She picked up the pace only slightly, but when she glanced over her shoulder, she noticed he also quickened his pace.

Stay calm, Eve told herself. Just get yourself to your building and you'll be fine. She walked a little bit faster and gripped her phone in her hand. She turned the corner and could see that he was gaining distance on her.

She bolted into a sprint, and hearing the footsteps behind her, so did he. She was so close, only two more blocks to her flat.

She was yanked back by her hair and let out a yelp as she landed on her back. She got a look at her attacker; it was the man from earlier at the bookshop.

"You!" She tried to push him off, but he grabbed her wrists and held them still. She did her best to squirm and get some footing. "Let go of me! Help!"

"Shut up, bitch!" He growled.

"Fucking get off!" She did the only thing she could; head-butt him, and hard.

"Agh! Fuck!" He grabbed where his head had split open and was bleeding and backed up enough so Eve was able to slip out some to attempt to stand up.

"Get back here!" He grabbed her hip bruisingly.

She managed to kick up— into his groin— and scrambled up to her feet and picked up her phone from where it fell on the ground.

He was in pain but still wouldn't give up. He tried his best to stand.

"Oh, for Christ's sake!" She threw a jab at his nose. She had given up on some passerby coming to help her. "Fucking go to hell!" She grabbed his collar and slammed him into the concrete wall behind them and he went limp. "Fuck!"

Still high on adrenaline, she dialed the police. "Hello? Yes, I've just been attacked."

No parent ever wants to get that dreaded phone call from the emergency room.

"Anthony Crowley?" The receptionist asked when he picked up.

"Yes?" He was in bed snuggling with Aziraphale and he was just about to slip into a sweet sleep. Eve hadn't called or texted yet, but he was sure it'd come soon enough. Maybe she missed her Tube or it was running late. When her text did come, Aziraphale would be awake to see it.

"Mr. Crowley, this is the Charing Cross Emergency Room." Crowley's stomach dropped and he felt like he couldn't breathe, even though he didn't need to breathe at all. "Your daughter, Evelyn Thompson, has just been brought in."

"I-is she okay?" Crowley finally found his words.

"She's alive, Sir. And she's conscious."

"Thanks." He hung up and scrambled so quickly out of bed he almost fell. "Aziraphale, we've got to go." Dressing would take too long. He snapped his fingers and they were both dressed to go.

Aziraphale got up, "Dear, who was that?"

"Hospital. Eve. ER."

Aziraphale looked like he had just seen a ghost. "Why the hell didn't you say something earlier?" He was downstairs and out the door quicker than Crowley had ever seen him.

For once, Aziraphale was thankful for Crowley's ridiculous speeding. "Is she okay? Did they say what happened?"

"I don't know, Angel, they just said she was alive and awake." He sped to the hospital and pulled into the first available space he saw. He wasn't even sure he locked the car; he just bolted into the ER with Aziraphale.

"Thompson?" Aziraphale asked the nurse at the front desk and she pointed to a room down the hall. Crowley didn't even bother to stop, just ran down the hall until he saw Eve in one of the rooms, sitting on the edge of the bed.

A police officer was talking to her, taking her statement, and the nurse was just finishing up on her. She had several scrapes and bruises all over, not to mention the cut on her forehead, but she thankfully didn't need to get stitches. And since the man was still lying there unconscious when police arrived, they didn't need to take DNA from under her fingernails or her knuckles either.

The police officer left and Crowley and Aziraphale went in.

"Eve!" Zira was first to get to her and pulled her into a crushing hug.

The nurse left the room, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Evelyn, you're covered in blood..." Crowley pulled Aziraphale off her so that she could breathe and he could get a good look at her.

"You should see the other guy." She tried to smirk, tried to make a joke, but he could tell she was scared and in shock.

"Evelyn, this is not the time to make fucking jokes, I -" Aziraphale gasped and covered his mouth. It had slipped, he so worked up.

Eve's eyes were wide with amusement. "Watch your lang-" and then she broke. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry." She sobbed.

"Dearheart, you did nothing wrong." Zira pulled her back into a hug, gentler this time, but still held her.

"Eve, who did this to you?" Crowley asked.

"Th - The creep from the shop earlier." She felt Zira's grip tighten around her.

"And he's in custody?" She nodded. "Good, because I'd kill him. I'm serious. I've never actually killed anyone, but I'm quite honestly thinking about it."

"Dad..."

Now was not the time to plot murder. Eve needed him now. He wrapped his arms around her and Zira.

"I want to go home."

"Of course, love, let's go home."

"Don't I have to get discharged first?"

"You just were." Zira smiled and helped her off the bed and kept his arm around her all the way to the car. Her steps were shaky and slow.

Eve didn't even feel like herself. She felt like she was in a sick, twisted nightmare that felt too real. But then she looked down at her bloodied pants and she felt dizzy and remembered that it did happen. She wanted to scream, wanted to cry until she finally passed out and sleep for days.

Her mind kept taking her to an even darker place, a place that imagined what would have happened if she hadn't fought back hard like she did. She had read stories of women who still fought with everything they had and were still assaulted.

She reached forward and put her hand on Zira's shoulder, who reached up and gave her hand a squeeze.

"Eve, where's your flat?" Crowley asked. Eve had never actually told them where she lived and they certainly had never been there.

"Oh, right." She gave him the address and he sped down the street. It really wasn't a far ways away from the hospital.

Once inside, they couldn't believe Eve lived there. The general building was filthy, and when they finally got to Eve's flat, it wasn't much better.

Abel was there to greet Eve at the door and she bent down and scooped him into her arms. He covered her face in wet kisses.

"Evelyn, please tell me you don't actually live here?" Aziraphale asked as he looked around.

"It was cheap and available," was Eve's only defense.

"Yes, but Eve..." Crowley followed her to her room, which was as shabby and plain as the rest of the flat.

The door next to her's opened and Megan came out. "Eve, is that you?" She peeked in her room and gasped. "What happened?"

"I was -" her voice caught in her throat.

By the looks of the blood on her, whatever it was, wasn't good. And by Eve's tears, it really wasn't something she wanted to talk about. "Okay. It's okay." Megan smiled. She decided it was best to change the subject. She looked at Crowley and then Aziraphale. "Hi, I'm Megan," and waved to them.

Eve sniffed, "That's my Dad, Anthony, and my Father, Azira."

"Nice to meet you. Can I get you anything?"

Crowley shook his head and Aziraphale said, "No thank you, dear."

"Right. Eve, why don't you go take a shower, change out of those clothes?" Megan reached over and took Abel from her arms so she could go to the bathroom.

"He needs his medicine." She protested.

"I'm sure one of your parents can give him his medicine."

"I'll take him." Crowley held out his arms.

"Thank you," she handed him, Abel. "His pills are on the counter, just fold them up in some cheese we have in the fridge." She turned back to Eve. "Come along, a hot shower," and helped her to the bathroom.

When the door shut, Crowley went to the kitchen. "I want her out of here. That one's fine or whatever, but I can sense the other mate is high in her room right now. Plus, it's filthy." He did as he was instructed and gave Abel his pills, which went down fine because, well, they were in cheese.

"And where is she going to go, Crowley? She can't live on our sofa forever."

Crowley thought for a moment. "She can stay at my place. I'm never there anymore anyway; I only go occasionally to make sure the plants aren't disgracing me. It's much closer to your shop and at least there I'll know she's comfortable and safe."

In the bathroom, Eve was inspecting the damage on her. There was a huge hand print-shaped mark on her hip that was already beginning to bruise. Her arms and elbows were scraped and cut up and her knee was cut up as well. Her knuckles were red and swollen and the cut on her head was still tender.

Megan has gotten her a towel and started the shower for her. Eve asked her to stay, just turn around until she got in the shower. When she did, Megan leaned up against the sink.

"Your parents seem nice." She tried to keep the conversation light.

"Sorry they're not more sociable tonight, it's just..."

"Eve, it's okay. I'm not going to nudge you to tell me what happened, not unless you want to. You're all allowed to be in shock. Plus, it's almost three in the morning."

"Wait, really? Oh, Megan, I'm so sorry we woke you!" Eve sounded on the verge of tears again.

"No, Eve, it's okay! I promise. I'm glad I'm up to help in any way. I'm sure your parents are great, but maybe you need... I don't know, another woman for this?"

Eve nodded, even though Megan couldn't see it. She was right, though. "Is Lizzie here? I didn't wake her too?"

Megan scoffed. "Lizzie could sleep through a nuclear war. Here, let me go put these in your room and get you some comfy clothes. I'll be right back." Megan gathered Eve's clothes from off the floor and went to put them away in Eve's room, but found Crowley packing Eve's things into her suitcase. Everything Eve owned could maybe fit into just one big suitcase, and maybe another box.

"Getting Eve out of here?"

"Yes. She'd never shown us where she lived, and after tonight, and seeing this place, we can't let her stay here."

"I don't blame you." She set the dirty clothes down and fished a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt out of Eve's drawers before pulling the whole drawer out so Crowley could just dump everything in her suitcase. "Only reason I stay here is because I can't go home, can't go to my fiancé's, it's cheap, and she and I are trying to save up for our wedding and our own place. I spend as much time here as Eve does."

"And the other flatmate?"

"Jessica? She's high most of the time. And Eve swears she only eats grilled chicken and rice. But like, right now, she's high in her room."

"Yeah, Eve's definitely getting out of here." He finished packing up her clothes and shut the suitcase.

"Good idea." Megan went back to the bathroom. "When you're done, gather all your bathroom stuff too."

"Why?"

"Your parents are taking you away from here, lucky duck."

Eve froze. Leaving? The flat? Where was she going to go? To live on Aziraphale's sofa until she could find another place?

"I'll just be right outside the door, okay?" Megan left the bathroom and Eve turned off the water.

It hurt to dry off and she knew that the next day she would be sore. She grabbed the first aid kit and put band-aids (they were all Disney themed) on her cuts and got dressed.

In the living room, Crowley and Aziraphale were waiting for her with her suitcase and a box filled with miscellanies, which she threw her toiletries into. Abel was already on his leash, ready to go as well with his things. She went to her room, did a once-over, and grabbed her bag, her blanket and the only thing she kept from her childhood, a stuffed sea turtle named Marvin.

"What's in this suitcase, Eve, dear?" There was an extra suitcase, vintage and covered in stickers, that weighed a ton and was shoved in her closet.

"Records and my record player."

Crowley raised a brow. "Why was it shoved in your closet, then?"

Eve shrugged, "Dunno."

She said goodbye to Megan, wished her the best of luck and set her key on the kitchen counter and that was it. Never to step foot in that dingy flat again. Well, Eve would have to come back, but only to the outside, to grab her car.

She expected the Bentley to pull up to the shop in Soho. Not some luxurious apartment building in Mayfair. Crowley opened the door for her.

"What's this?" She got out holding Abel wrapped up in her blanket.

"Well, it's my flat, but I'm never here anymore, so," he shrugged.

"Oh." She went to grab one of her bags, but Crowley miracled then in an instant away to his flat upstairs.

The lobby was sleek and cool and made of shiny dark granite floors and walls. No one was in there; no one would, it was almost four in the morning.

Crowley's flat was just as sleek and modern. It was so unlike Aziraphale's Victorian aesthetic, where everything was soft and warm tones and comfy. Everything in Crowley's flat was dark and hard and sharp. Though, as much as Crowley loved to sleep, she imagined his bed was most likely the worlds comfiest bed.

The only burst of color in the flat was the house plants scattered everywhere.

"Dad, are these fake?" Eve asked as she walked up to one.

"No, they're real."

"Woah," she reached out and rubbed a leaf, just to make sure. "They're so beautiful, how'd you get them to be so perfect?"

"I wouldn't do that, Eve, dear. Crowley always yells at me when I'm kind to his plants." Aziraphale smirked.

Eve raised a brow. "Weird."

"Eve!" Crowley called her from the other room. She followed the sound of his voice. The flat was rather big; it took up almost the entire floor of the building, and some doors actually looked like walls but when you pushed on them they swiveled.

Crowley had already put her things in the bedroom. She figured they could wait until tomorrow, all she wanted to do was sleep. She set Abel down and he ventured around the room, sniffing and getting familiar with his new surroundings. She set out his doggie bed right next to the bed so they'd be close.

Crowley put the key to the flat on top of the dresser. "Get some sleep, Eve."

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you..."

"For what?"

"For being there... I'm not even your real kid and you and Zira have treated me more like family than my own ever has. A - and now this," she gestured around the apartment. "I don't..."

"Eve..." he held her close. Hugs from Crowley were rare which made them the best.

"I love you, Dad."

Crowley was silent for a moment. He felt that he had failed her. He thought that he was doing so well with the parenting thing at first, and then her heart was broken, and he tried to help her pick up all of the pieces, but he couldn't pick up them all. And now she was even more broken and if he had just driven her home... but Eve wasn't putting the blame on him.

"I love you too," it was barely a whisper. It wasn't something she heard often. Zira said it quite often, but Crowley reserved his 'I-love-you's.'

"Will you and Zira stay the night?" She asked.

"We can. We'll just be in the other room."

"Okay." She smiled a little and lied down. "G'night... morning, whatever."

"I'll see you in a couple hours. Abel, protect her." Abel only opened one eye before going back to sleep.

Eve thought correctly; it was the worlds comfiest bed. Everything about it was just soft. Exhaustion finally took her.

"Is she asleep?" Aziraphale asked. He definitely was not admiring and praising Crowley's plants.

"Yes. I told her we would stay until she wakes up, in case she needs anything."

"You look exhausted, Crowley. Why don't you get some rest, as well? I don't need to sleep."

"I don't need it either. I can't sleep, anyway." He sat next to Aziraphale on the sofa and leaned on his shoulder.

"Crowley, I've been thinking..." he reached over and grabbed Crowley hand and squeezed it. "What if it's time we move out of the city?"

"And go where, Angel? To a different country?"

"No, I'd like to stay in England. But perhaps it's time for a change of scenery. I believe we're outgrowing the shop. It's far too dangerous here..."

"And where did you have in mind?"

"I have no idea."

Crowley thought for a moment. "We could have a garden... Some land where Abel could run around." He tilted his head up to look at Aziraphale. "Lots of bookshelves for all your books. Wait, what about your bookshop?"

He shrugged, "I love the shop. It's been home for hundreds of years. But I love you and Eve more." He gently kissed the bridge of his nose and smiled. "Go to sleep, Crowley, we'll discuss it later. If Eve wakes up, I promise I'll be there for her."

"Promise?" Crowley closed his eyes.

"Promise."

* * *

I'm really sorry for the overall emotional rollercoaster this chapter (and the last) have been. I promise that the story- in terms of tone- go uphill from here.


	9. House Hunters: Ineffable Edition

As I promised, this chapter is much happier, so need TW :)

If you would like to see a floorplan of how I envision the South Downs Cottage, the photos can be found here: [ drive/folders/1dySHZayA1l_UxZW4uD-APzOkTCmnWVjc?usp=sharing]

* * *

Eve didn't wake up until noon, sore all over. Her head was pounding and her hips ached. She groaned and got up, a couple of her joints popped, and she cracked her back. She grabbed her blanket and wrapped it around her like a cloak and made her way out into the living room.

Crowley was on the sofa petting Abel. "Where's Zira?" Eve asked.

"He went out to go get pastries and coffee. Are you hungry?"

"Might be in a little bit." She walked over to the single bookshelf Crowley had in his flat. They were mostly nonfiction books: books on nature and animals. There was one book that caught her eye, an _Atlas of The Universe_.

"How are you feeling, Eve?" He asked.

She completely ignored the question. "I thought you didn't read."

"Er, well, I don't read books like _Zira_ reads 'em."

"You have all of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets."

"That's different, it's _Shakespeare_, everyone should have that in their libraries."

"Hm." She flipped through the Atlas, looking at the photos. "Have you ever seen any of these? Up close, I mean."

He scoffed. "Seen them? I _made_ half of them."

"You made stars? When you were an An - _I mean_, from before?" She watched Crowley tense up; he never talked about what his time was like as an Angel. Neither Aziraphale nor Eve even knew what his name was from before if he had a name.

Aziraphale said that he didn't remember him from Heaven and that he _certainly_ would have remembered him if he did meet him in Heaven.

Speak of the devil Angel, Aziraphale came back, ultimately saving Crowley from having to talk about before the Fall.

"Evelyn, dearheart, you're awake." He had several boxes full of pastries and a tray of cups of coffee and placed them on the table. "How are you feeling?"

She sighed and took a chocolate croissant and a coffee. "I'm... _okay_. Just okay. I really don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"We won't push you to it, Eve," Crowley said.

"There is something, however, that we _would_ like to discuss with you," Aziraphale added and sat down.

"And what's that?" She took a sip of her coffee.

"Well, we were thinking perhaps it'd be best to move out of the city."

She nearly choked. "A - and go _where?_"

"We have no idea." Crowley shrugged.

"We were hoping _you_ might have a suggestion," Aziraphale added.

"I don't have any ideas, I don't think I've ever been out of the city before." Eve had grown up in London, gone to school there, got her degree there. For all of the places she'd gone to in Continental Europe, she'd never ventured to the rest of England.

"Well, we can't just look up houses for sale in all of England, we need to narrow it down to an area."

"Wait, _why_ are we moving?" She asked.

"It's too dangerous here, Evelyn. And our family has simply grown too big for my little bookshop."

"So, wait, you're giving up the bookshop? Zira, that's -"

"It's not as if I sell anything, Eve. Besides, home is with you and Crowley, wherever that is."

"Oh. I -" she sniffed. She really did wish she wasn't so emotional over _every_ little thing. She supposed she had a reason to, considering what had happened to her the previous night and having parents who loved and cared for her and weren't even her own.

"Eve, dear," Aziraphale reached out to take her hand, and then Eve remembered something, and started giggling. Aziraphale furrowed his brow, "Whatever are you laughing about?"

"You said 'fuck' last night!" Eve didn't know why she remembered it all of a sudden, but it was suddenly the funniest thing ever.

"Eve, _really_." Aziraphale sighed.

"It _was_ really funny, though, Angel," Crowley smirked.

"I was scared and worried, it slipped out!" Aziraphale pouted.

"Now you can say it all the time, though. No need to be so PG," she smiled and walked over to the bookshelf.

"What are you looking for, Eve?" Crowley asked.

"A map, England specifically."

"_World Atlas_."

"Ah." She stood on her tippy-goes and grabbed it from one of the top shelves and opened it up to a giant map of England. "Both of you, come here."

They both walked over to where she stood in front of the table, one on either side of her.

"Eve, why -"

Eve grabbed Zira's left hand and Crowley's right hand and enclosed them both around her own, with her index finger up.

"Eve, okay, I give, what the hell?"

"Close your eyes and we're going to place our finger somewhere on the map, and wherever it lands, _that's_ where we're going to move."

"Eve, dear, there's simply no tact to this."

"Zira, take a risk once in a while! Now close your eyes."

Crowley and Eve both closed theirs. "Crowley, you too?"

"Have you got a better idea, Angel? We've got to start somewhere. If the first place doesn't work out, we'll try another place. Now close your eyes."

"It could land somewhere _awful_, but fine. You two win." He shut his eyes, and Eve peeked just to make sure.

"Ready?" She held their hands up. "One, two, three!" And brought her finger down onto the page and hoped it didn't land somewhere in the ocean.

Crowley was first to look. "Seaford? Where the _bloody hell_ is Seaford?"

"It's... In the South Downs, I believe." Aziraphale said.

"I think it's near those cliffs. Seven Sisters, or whatever they're called." Eve added. "Guess I'll start looking, then."

Eve found several houses for sale in Seaford and the surrounding area. She had printed out each listing and was going over them with Crowley in the bookshop. She was perched on top of the register counter while Crowley displaced his pelvis in five different directions as always leaning against it to look over her shoulder and Aziraphale meticulously packed away his beloved books. He had been at it for a week, and every time he came across a book he liked, he insisted on "taking a break" and reading it again.

Within that week, Eve and Crowley had managed to pack up Crowley's apartment. The large statues and pieces of art went away in a high-security storage unit until they knew what to do with them. Eve had gone to court and her attacker plead guilty, which meant she didn't have to testify and could try and move on with her life. She only had one mental breakdown and cut her hair short again, but it ended up being shorter than it was the last time because she kept trying to even it out and it only kept getting shorter. It turned out coming down to her ears. One swipe of Crowley's hand through her hair and it was evened out and slightly longer.

And she spent all of her free time researching houses for sale and contacting realtors.

In that time, Aziraphale _still_ wasn't even halfway finished packing his books.

"This one's got three bedrooms, two baths. It's got a garden and a hot tub."

Crowley looked over the pictures. "Hmmm... Put it with the maybes."

"Alright." She placed the packet in one pile. "This one I just printed out for shits-and-gigs. It's got **ten** bedrooms and three baths, a conservatory, and absolutely ridiculous. What are we going to do with **ten** bedrooms?"

"Fill it with books!" Aziraphale suggested.

"Absolutely not!" Crowley grabbed the packet and tossed it in the trash bin. There were starting to be more packets in the bin than in the 'maybe' pile.

"Okay, and then there's this one." She held out the packet for Crowley to look at. "It's very old. Built in the early 20th century. It's not really in Seaford; it's about a mile or so outside of the town and it's on five acres of land. Two bedrooms, two baths."

"It's only got one picture," Crowley said.

"Yes, well, I called the realtor and she said it was a 'fixer-upper.'" Just how _much_ of a fixer-upper it was, the realtor didn't tell Eve, but the realtor sounded desperate to get rid of the property. "Did I mention it's on the beach?"

"Oh, Crowley, we shouldn't toss it aside." Aziraphale chimed in. "We should at least go see it."

"Fine. We'll go see it before any of the others."

"Putting it in the 'maybe' pile!" She stacked it down on the, disappointedly, small pile. "Zira, put that bloody book down, you've read it five times since I've known you!"

"But -"

"_Pack!_" Crowley and Eve both told him.

Eve and Abel waited outside of Crowley's— now, technically Eve's— flat at seven in the morning. She forced herself to dress nicely, in a pale blue jumpsuit, but she was wrapped in her blanket standing on the sidewalk half awake. In one hand she had Abel, and in the other, a bag with the listing packets, some grid paper, a drafting pencil, and a measuring tape.

The Bentley pulled up and halted with a screech in front of her. Crowley got out and pushed his seat forward so she could get in. "What's all that for?"

"'case I gotta measure stuff." She climbed in the back, her blanket still around her, set Abel on her lap and leaned her head back. "How far is the drive?"

"An hour and forty-five minutes, without traffic." Aziraphale has already preoccupied himself with a book.

"Perfect." She gave a thumbs up. "Wake me when we get there. Or when we find a coffee shop."

"There's a tin of biscuits back there if you get peckish, dear."

"Angel, she's already out," Crowley said as he got back in the car.

"Well, _do_ be careful driving."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved the angel off and sped off.

Almost two hours later, through Crowley's speeding and blaring music, Eve stayed asleep. She only woke up when she heard the word "coffee."

She held the warm cup in both hands and sipped lovingly on the sweet life-giving liquid and Crowley pulled up in front of the seaside cabin. They had only passed two other houses on their way down the dirt-gravel road, both on the other side of the street of the cabin and further down the road.

"Eve..." Crowley got out of the car. The realtor was outside waiting for them.

"Okay, it looked _much_ better in the picture." She grabbed Abel and got out as well.

"Oh, but isn't it lovely here?" Aziraphale got out and took a deep breath of the fresh salt air.

"Yeah, it's - Are you wearing _normal_ clothes?" Zira wasn't wearing his usual centuries-old getup. He was wearing khaki trousers and a gray sweater vest and a pale blue button-up underneath.

He looked absolutely adorable. Eve thought he looked adorable in his sleepwear, but she had never seen him in any "day" clothes other than the clothes he wore every day.

"It took you this long to notice?" He asked.

"I was in the back seat. And asleep!" She turned to Crowley and mouthed, "Did you do that?"

Crowley nodded and mouthed back, "Yeah. Told him no one would sell a house to a Victorian ghost."

"You know, I can read your lips!" Aziraphale's cheeks were a lovely shade of pink. Red/pink made blue eyes look bluer, like when you cried. Grays and blues also made blue eyes stand out. At that moment, Aziraphale's eyes were bluer than the sky.

"I wanna squeeze him." Eve squealed.

"Oh, I already did this morning." Crowley winked.

"Walking away! Look, our realtor is patiently waiting." He walked over to the woman. Poor thing, Crowley had made Eve tell her that they were only available in the early morning.

"His ass looks cute too," Crowley added, not-so-subtly watching Aziraphale walk away.

"You know what? Not gonna make a comment on that." She followed Aziraphale and heard Crowley snicker behind her.

The realtor's name was Anna. She told them the cabin was built in the 1920s, a family lived there until the 1960s. It had been vacant ever since. There wasn't much to show them, so she let them loose to look around.

The cabin was made of stone, two stories, but the three steps that led up to the door that was made of wood were rotting. The door was made of mahogany and had sidelights. The windows were original leaded windows.

The first room they came into when they went through the front door was the sitting room. Original hardwood floors, ornate wood-carved mantel with a wood-burning fireplace.

Off to the left was a room with a bay window. Eve muttered under her breath, "I could fix this. I could fix that, I could make that into a window seat." Her eyes were shining. She was in her element. An old house that needed a lot of fixing up and a lot of TLC.

The dining room had a beautiful chandelier in the center of the ceiling surrounded by beautiful plaster molding. There was a China cabinet built into the wall. _Did they even have China? Surely Aziraphale had some old stuff lying around?_

The kitchen needed to be updated completely. Replace the appliances and countertops, keep the cabinets. There was a back door, a wood door and then a screen door that squeaked when it opened and closed and a wooden back porch that the owners must have added at a later date. The wood was rotting in places there, too, and the columns holding up the roof needed to be replaced. Eve didn't even want to see the roof. It was shingled and not thatch, thank G-d, but she knew that there was probably some major damage.

"Hey, come look at the view!" She called for them inside.

Aziraphale and Crowley both came out to the porch and Crowley nearly went through the wood.

"Shit! Eve!"

"I could fix it! But look! Look at this land!" She spread her arms out wide. "We have a beach!_ A beach!_"

"Yes, and a house that needs to be bulldozed."

"_No!_ No, its bones are good and I can fix it! Look, Dad, you can have a garden! Hell, you could have your own Versailles!" On the edges of the property grew bright wildflowers and there were several beech trees. Eve could hang a swing from one of them.

Crowley sighed, "Eve..."

"I'm gonna go check out upstairs, feel free to join me." She beamed and walked back inside and upstairs. Oh, the stairs were beautiful. There were carvings on the brackets and hand-carved balusters. They creaked and they were loose in some places, but she could fix that.

Aziraphale and Crowley went back inside as well and went into the living room. Aziraphale looked up at the ceiling. There was an overhang that overlooked the room on the second floor, so the living room was open-air. There was molding on the ceiling above them. A chandelier could go there as well.

"Angel, I think we're screwed."

"Why's that, dear?" Aziraphale brought his attention back to Crowley.

"Eve's in love with the place."

"Ah, yes, well, you know how she is about old buildings."

"_You're_ in love with it, too." Aziraphale went to say something but Crowley stopped him. "I can see it in your eyes."

"You must admit, Crowley, the house has character. It could be beautiful, given some repairs. I know it's not really your taste, but -"

Crowley cut him off with a kiss. "I guess I sort of love it too. I don't even want to look at the other properties if I'm being completely honest."

"Really? But - Crowley, _it's_ -"

"It's a home, Angel. Not a bachelor pad. It's a home for our family. You were right, Angel, home is wherever you and Eve are. I've waited 6000 years to be with you, at this point, I don't really _care_ where that is."

"Crowley..." Aziraphale reached up and cupped Crowley's jaw.

Crowley turned and kissed the Aziraphale's palm. "I think we're going to be fixing up a house, Angel."

"I think we are too." Aziraphale beamed. "I love you."

"I love you too." He kissed him again and Aziraphale held him close.

The was a creak and a yelp from upstairs. They pulled apart and looked up at the overhang. Eve was standing there with Abel in her arms at the edge of the overhang. "I could fix that!"

"No, Eve, you _are_ going to fix that. Can't have anyone falling and cracking their heads open in our new home."

"Our new home? You mean -?"

"Unless you don't want to?" Crowley shrugged.

"No, no!" She smiled. "It's perfect. We can make it our own. Now, if someone can please come up here, I'm actually afraid to move on this overlook."

Aziraphale giggled and came up the stairs. "I'm coming, dear. Give me your hand."

She took his hand and stepped away from the edge of the overlook and it freaked and shifted again. She winced, "I'll fix it, I promise."

"Oh, Satan." Crowley covered his face with his hands. "Where's the realtor lady, before I change my mind."

"_Her_ name is Anna and I believe she's out front." Eve took Aziraphale around the second floor. There was the master bedroom with an en suite bathroom, but the bathroom most likely needed to be completely redone. The floor needed to be replaced, and the clawfoot tub, bless it, was beyond repair. It was big enough, though, that it would fit both a shower and a tub.

The master bedroom was huge. Crowley would probably still be able to fit his giant bed in there. Eve would have to wire it to have a light fixture, but four windows brought in plenty of natural light during the day. Plus, an amazing view of the ocean.

Eve's bathroom was on the other side of the master bathroom. The clawfoot tub in there was spared, and it wouldn't take much to adjust the plumbing to convert it into a shower.

Eve's bedroom was across the hall and the bay window continued up to the second floor, so Eve could make a window seat in her room as well. It was much bigger than the room in her old flat. She could actually manage to have more than just her bed in her room, and a closet that could fit all of her clothes so she wouldn't have to live half out of her suitcase.

The papers were all signed that same day. Turns out, Anna was so desperate to get rid of the property, she carried all of the legal documents around with her. She told them that they had saved this property by a week; it was scheduled for demolition.

By that afternoon, Crowley had the keys in his hands. Anna told them that if they should ever need anything, to call her, and drove off, leaving the family alone in their new seaside cottage.

Eve had taken it upon herself to draw out a floorplan of the entire house. She had made Zira follow her around and hold down the measuring tapes while she sketched and recorded. She also made a list of everything that needed to be done and fixed, safety hazards going at the top.

"I can always drive down here and work on the house until you move in." She said. "Safety stuff first, then the master bedroom and bathroom, then the living room and kitchen, and then we'll go from there."

"Seems like a lot," Crowley said.

"It won't be once I get started."

"Can we help in any way, dear?" Aziraphale asked, not that he nor Crowley knew anything about restoring an old house, or construction and carpentry in general. Anything that they could help with, they would most likely end up miracling instead.

Eve shook her head, "You and Dad just worry about design. Paint colors, furniture, all that stuff. Let me take care of the heavy lifting."

"Eve, you're barely five feet above the ground, how much 'heavy lifting' can you possibly do?" He snickered.

"Wanna bet?"

It was a lot, actually. Eve began the restoration almost immediately. She drove out to the cottage early in the morning, worked all day on the house, and returned late at night. Crowley offered to drive her, but she said she was fine on her own. Plus, the Bentley couldn't fit the supplies.

Eve had a 1965 Volkswagen Bus. It was teal and white and it was Eve's baby, second to Abel. There was no reason to have a car in London, but Eve had wanted one ever since she was little. When she bought it, it was a wreck. Luckily, automobile restoration is a part of Historic Preservation. So, she donated the car to the class and she paid for the students' services and it was almost fully restored to its original state. "Almost" because she asked them to convert it to automatic, instead of manual.

She lived in it the first summer of Uni before she found a flat. She kept most of her things in it. There were boxes in there that had never even seen her old flat. The only reason she kept her records in the flat is so they wouldn't break or warp. But, she had to take all of her things out of the car and stash it in the Mayfair flat to fit all of the things she needed to work on the cottage.

She had fixed the back and front stairs outside and the overlook still had some creaks, but no one was in danger of falling through it. The stairs inside also had to get reattached to the wall, but they were sturdy now.

Eve was working on the master bedroom and bathroom simultaneously. She had to replace the floors— which she replaced with slate tiling— since the floor had sunken in around where the tub used to be.

Back at home, Crowley had been tasked with decorating the house. He would order things and have them sent to the cottage.

The only help Eve had was the installers that delivered the appliances and such. She didn't know anything about plumbing. They don't really teach that in school.

Eve called Crowley one afternoon as she was finishing up painting his and Zira's bedroom.

"Has the house fallen down?" He asked when he picked up.

"No, _actually_, I was just finishing up the second coat of paint in your bedroom."

"And? How's it look?"

"Well, I must say, you're going to have a _wretched_ time coordinating with such a putrid shade of green." She teased.

"Evelyn."

"I'm _kidding_. It's actually a very nice shade of gray. I thought it would make the room dark, but the light seems to be bouncing off it quite nicely."

"You're not funny, you know. So when do you think we can start moving in?"

"Er... well, your bedroom and bathroom are finished. Not furnished yet, of course. Actually, I think your bathroom is probably the most modern room in the house. I'm moving onto the sitting room and kitchen next. So, you and Zira can move in now and just be a little inconvenienced or you could wait a little bit." She pressed her phone between her ear and her shoulder and went downstairs.

She'd might as well get started on the kitchen while she was thinking about it. She had the replacement countertops. She could finish them that day, but she wouldn't be home until late. The kitchen appliances would be there the next day.

"We don't really like you being there all alone, Eve."

"Yes, like I'm surrounded by people here. Dad, I haven't seen another _soul_ around here since I've started."

"Still. Zira and I can deal without a kitchen for a few days, not like we cook anyway. We can move tomorrow. Did Zira finally finish packing?"

"I finished packing for him. Wouldn't put down a book - Eve what the _Hell_ are you doing?"

"Prying off the countertops!" She yanked them off with a crowbar. "I still have to build bookshelves for his study."

"He'll live."

"Yes, well, I should be home tonight, then. Late tonight, though. Could you or Zira stop by the flat and feed Abel? And sit with him for a while? I don't want him to get separation anxiety."

"Yes, of course." He could hear the power drill on the other end. "Do you ever stop?"

"Nope!"

"You're getting things done incredibly fast for just one person."

"I like to get things done and get them done fast. Now, I've gotta go, gotta get these counters done. I love you and Zira both. I'll see you tonight or tomorrow."

"Be safe, Eve. See you then."

She hung up and sighed. "Who the fuck decided on quartz countertops, anyway?" It was Crowley, of course. White quartz countertops and she was painting the cabinets gray. The walls were getting painted French Blue and she was putting a white and gray tile backsplash behind the counters. All of the appliances were stainless steel.

She decided to build a wrap-around bench in the corner of the kitchen against the two windows. There she could put a circular table that could be used as a breakfast nook.

The sink was also getting converted into a trough sink, and above the sink was a double casement window that opened outward. Eve planned to build a large window box for flowers, or perhaps even herbs to have fresh on-hand.

The living room, they had decided on painting the walls a cream color, so that it was neutral enough that it would match pretty much anything. The mantel on the fireplace was still in good enough condition that it didn't need any work, just needed to be repainted.

The room off of the living room was going to be Aziraphale's study. She was going to build bookshelves into the walls. It would make the study slightly smaller, but anything for Aziraphale's books. Besides, there would be bookshelves under the window seat Eve was making. Still, they probably wouldn't hold all of Aziraphale's books.

Eve didn't get home until late that night. She was dead on her feet. She couldn't wait to kick off her work boots and take a shower. She was covered in paint. Her dungarees were covered in paint. There were paint and dust in her hair and the bandana she tied in it had done nothing to protect it from such things getting in her hair.

She had asked one of her parents to stop by to check on Abel, but she was surprised to find both of them in her flat waiting for her to get home.

"Fucking _Christ_, you scared the _shit_ out of me!" Eve nearly jumped back five feet when she walked in.

"Evelyn, really, _must_ you use so many vulgar words in one sentence?"

"You think that was a lot?" She bent down and let Abel. "Hello, puppers, I missed you too. What are you two still doing here? Not that I care, I mean, I cared when I nearly had a heart attack."

"We'd figure we would stay for a while." Crowley shrugged. "Hungry? Did you eat anything at all today?"

"No, not really. A protein bar?"

"Evelyn, you're working all day long, you really must eat something." Aziraphale nagged.

"I drank water!"

"_Evelyn!_"

"Oh, for the love of -" Crowley picked up his phone. "Carry out?"

"Sounds good."

"Your usual, Eve?" She always got veggie Egg Foo Yung and veggie lo mein.

"Yes. I'm going to go get a quick shower. I've got paint in my hair." She walked into her bedroom. "How did I even _get_ paint in my hair?" She disappeared behind her closed door.

"She's insane," Aziraphale shook his head and Crowley called in the order. "I believe she's sleep-deprived."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Crowley said when he hung up. "I imagine she's working all day long and then she comes home and stays up half of the night working on design." He walked over to where Eve had stashed her things. They were just piled in the corner of the sitting room.

"Crowley, don't go snooping around Eve's things."

"Just wanna see her records." He knelt down and opened the old suitcase. Inside we're as many records as she could fit alongside her record player. Crowley smirked; at least she had great taste in music. Lots of 80s music, Queen, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Metallica, Elton John; she had every Billy Joel album. More classic rock albums, a few that were more recent.

They sat on the floor eating decent Chinese food and drinking good wine, listening to Eve's albums for the rest of the night. There was perfectly good furniture, but where was the fun in that? Aziraphale and Crowley drunkenly danced to "Just The Way You Are." They tripped over themselves but they were incredibly sweet, holding each other close, giggling, with their heads on one another's shoulders.

It was a fine way to spend their last night in London.


	10. If That's Movin' Up, then I'm Movin' Out

Eve had loaded her VW Bus that morning. Furniture would miraculously end up at the cottage later, but Eve was instructed to safely transport Crowley's plants to their new home. She'd also put any boxes of books that wouldn't fit in Crowley's Bentley.

It was far too early in the morning— six o'clock in the morning— and Eve was smart to grab a coffee before heading over to the bookshop. She left Abel curled up in the passenger side with the window cracked; he was fast asleep and she didn't want to bother him and drag him inside.

Aziraphale's furniture was still inside, but the boxes were slowly depleting. Crowley and Eve took turns carrying them to their cars.

"Still can't believe you drive a Volkswagen Bus," Crowley said as he set another box in the trunk.

"You are so one to talk!"

"I'm not judging, I think it suits you."

"Mhm." She rolled her eyes and went back inside along with Crowley. The shop was empty. It almost made Eve uncomfortable; it had always been such a crowded space. Now she could actually see the walls.

Aziraphale was standing in the middle of the shop. He was wearing "normal" clothes again: this time a pastel pink shirt and a bow tie that— surprisingly— wasn't tartan (it was a darker pink)! And were those... high-waisted trousers?

"Well, I suppose we should get rid of the rest of the things."

Crowley came to stand next to him. "I'll do my place, you do your's?"

Aziraphale nodded and *snap* everything else was gone from the shop. Eve imagined so was everything left in Crowley's flat, save for the bed. He was keeping the flat just in case. "You never know when business could bring you back to London," he said. However, Aziraphale was selling the shop. His long note from the window with his erratic hours to scare off customers was replaced for a 'For Sale' sign.

Aziraphale looked around, his eyes teary. "It hasn't been this empty since I first bought it."

Crowley held his hand. "This place has seen a lot. The end of the world, burning down, creatures of both Heaven and Hell..." he squeezed his hand. "Love confessions, the start of a family."

"Yes," Aziraphale smiled wide and a tear rolled down his cheek. He wasn't sad, he was incredibly happy. His other hand reached out and grabbed Eve's hand.

"A new chapter." She said. Looking around, it was really sad to see the shop so empty. She could understand why Zira was so upset leaving this behind. It was his home for hundreds of years.

"Ready to go, Angel?"

"Yes, I'll be out in just a moment."

"Alright." Eve gave him a sympathetic smile. "We'll be outside then."

Crowley and Eve both went outside, leaving Aziraphale alone. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. The shop was so full of love. Would the love still be there when they were gone? The memories would always be with them, of course.

When Aziraphale first kissed Crowley. When they fell in love, and when they finally said it to one another. All of those drunken nights. When Eve came into their lives. When she twirled around the shop singing at the top of her lungs, drunk, after her graduation. When they became a family, and when Abel became the fourth. Good memories and bad.

He opened his eyes and looked around his shop one last time. "Goodbye, old friend." He wiped his eyes and joined Crowley outside in the car.

They fell into some traffic (on the M25, of course) but they still made excellent time. The kitchen appliances wouldn't be delivered until later that afternoon (between 1:00 and 3:00, the man told her), which left them time to relax for a little bit.

"It's still a bit of a mess on the ground floor," Eve warned them as they walked from the cars to the front door.

"That's to be expected, dear," Aziraphale said.

Eve was nervous. She had done her best to design the rooms she had so far to make Aziraphale and Crowley feel at home. What would she do if they didn't like it?

But Eve didn't have to worry about that. Even though the living room was half painted and a mess, she heard both of them gasp when they walked in.

"Evelyn, it already looks wonderful!" Aziraphale beamed. It looked so much different than the dark, dusty cottage they saw when they first bought the house. Now, it was starting to finally look like a home.

"Eve, I can't believe you did all this by yourself," Crowley said in awe as he stepped into the kitchen. Before, it was dark and dingy. Now, it looked brighter and somehow, bigger. There was a circular table from the shop, and it was a perfect kitchen table. Eve had stayed late to finish the corner bench and not to honk her own horn, but it looked amazing.

He ran his hand over the quartz countertops. "These look great, too."

"I never want to do those counters again." Eve snorted. "They were a bitch to put in."

"Well, it's brilliant." Crowley smiled.

"Wait until you see the upstairs."

Aziraphale was already upstairs in their bedroom. When they came up, his eyes were filled with tears.

Eve's stomach dropped. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Absolutely nothing, dearheart. It's wonderful!" Aziraphale puller Eve into a crushing hug. "You never cease to amaze me, do you know that? I mean - oh, Crowley, look!"

"I see, Angel." Crowley's voice was soft and full of affection.

Aziraphale finally loosened his embrace on Eve. "I think you bruised a rib." She could finally get a good look at the room. Boxes were already in there filled with clothes to put away in the closet and dresser, and a few boxes of books for Aziraphale to put on the bookshelf that Eve had built. The bed was also already in there, but it wasn't the bed Eve was expecting to be in there. "Kept Zira's bed, huh?" She smirked and looked at Crowley.

"Er, well, fit the aesthetic." He shrugged. "Changed the mattress, though."

"Mhm," she nodded. He was so whipped. They would have to change the bedding, though. Zira's tartan duvet did not match the rest of the room at all.

Next thing she knew, Eve was being lifted off of the ground in yet another tight embrace, but this time, from Crowley.

"Agh! Jesus, Dad!"

"Love the bathroom."

Eve huffed our a laugh. "I'm glad, now can you please let me down before you actually break a rib?"

"Sure thing, darling." But he didn't put her down the same way he picked her up. Instead, he kept pushing her over his shoulder until she was dangling, only being held by him holding the backs of her knees.

"Dad! Dad, no!" She shrieked.

"Crowley, love, put her down," Aziraphale told him.

"Fine." He smirked and let go. Eve landed with an 'oof' on the bed.

"Jerk." She muttered.

Eve worked on the downstairs until the appliances were delivered and installed. Turns out, Aziraphale did have China, a lot of it, actually. He had collected China over the past few centuries, even a tea set that Queen Victoria had once owned that she gave to Aziraphale as a gift. All of that went safely on display in the China cabinet. He put the rest of the flatware and such in the kitchen cabinets.

Crowley unpacked the cars of the houseplants and boxes of books. Eve put on the second coat of paint in the living room, but it was still empty, save for a single armchair from Aziraphale's shop. The sofa from Aziraphale's shop was going in his study, and Crowley's furniture didn't match the house in general at all, which meant that they just had to go furniture shopping.

Eve installed a landline in the kitchen. One of those rotary phones that mounted on the wall with the spiral cord. It was blue. Aziraphale still used a landline; he didn't have a mobile phone, despite Crowley and Eve's many attempts to talk him into it. He had a black rotary phone in his shop. Eve got one for herself— for her room— even though she had a mobile. It was a pink rotary phone and even if she never hooked it up, honestly, she could entertain herself just spinning the rotary for hours.

"We'll have to go antiquing or something," she opened the double casement windows; it was starting to get musty in there. "And grocery shopping."

Aziraphale opened the fridge. It was empty. "I suppose no more eating out every night." He pouted.

"Oh noooo, you'll have to learn to cook." She rolled her eyes and looked outside. Crowley was in the garden with Abel, already planning on what he was going to plant. In all that black clothing, she wondered if he was too hot out there in the summer heat, but then again, Crowley always ran cold, he probably felt normal.

There was a knock at the door. Aziraphale cocked his head, "More deliveries?"

Eve shook her head, "Nope. I mean, not that I'm expecting."

Aziraphale went and opened the door. A woman was standing on their doorstep; she was middle-aged with curly brown hair and hazel eyes. "Hello," he smiled. "May I help you?"

"Hi! So sorry to both you." She said. "I imagine you're busy with unpacking and stuff, but I just wanted to come over and introduce myself. I'm Rebecca Schwartz, I live down the road, so I suppose I'm your neighbor."

Aziraphale's face lit up. How kind of her to come all this way just to say hello. He shook her hand. "So nice to meet you, Rebecca. I'm Azira Fell. And you weren't interrupting us at all, dear. Would you like to come in?"

Rebecca stepped in and gaped, "Oh, wow, this place looks amazing! Last time I was in here, it looked just about ready to topple over, but now... I mean, just wow."

"Thank you," Eve said from the kitchen archway.

Rebecca's eyebrows shot up, "You did this all by yourself? I thought I saw someone coming to and from doing work, but I didn't know it was just one person."

"This is my daughter, Eve. Eve, this is our new neighbor, Rebecca Schwartz."

"It's nice to meet you." Eve smiled.

Rebecca's eyes flashed to Eve's necklace. The Star of David she wore was a small, blue opal pendant on a short silver chain that fell on her neck almost like a choker. "Oh, you're Jewish too?"

"I am." Eve grinned. "They aren't, though. Zira and Anthony, that is."

"Anthony?"

"My partner," Aziraphale answered. "He's outside with our dog, planning a garden. Would you like some tea?"

"Sure."

Eve broke in the new stove and made a pot of tea. Rebecca was a single mom with three children. She worked at a seamstress for her mother's company. Her husband, Joseph, died four years ago while he was in the British Armed Forces stationed in Afghanistan. Their eldest son, Joshua, was twenty-five and in medical school to become an Anesthesiologist. "He'll be thirty when he finally gets to where he wants to be. But, he's one year to his Doctorate, so I'm proud," Rebecca said. Their second-oldest, Zachary, was fifteen and "wants to just stay inside and play video games all day." Rebecca rolled her eyes when she said that. And then there was Ruthie, their youngest; she was seven.

"So, what brings you all the way out here to Seaford from London?"

"It was time to get out of the city," Aziraphale said. "Eve was graduated and it was just getting too crowded in my flat. I used to own an antique bookshop in Soho and the flat was far too small for a family." He mentioned nothing about what had happened to Eve that was the real catalyst to them moving. "Anthony and I are retired, we needed a change of scene, and Eve fell in love with the house."

"Well, Eve, you must have seen something in this old cottage that none of us ever saw." She said. "It's been empty for years; kids used to dare each other to stay the night in here because we thought it was haunted."

Eve snorted. "Haunted? Yeah, it's old, but haunted?"

"The people who lived here last died in the house. One story I heard was that the husband killed his entire family and then himself."

Eve paled, only slightly. "I doubt it's haunted..."

"Don't tell Dad, Evelyn."

"Why?"

"He doesn't 'do' ghosts."

"What do you mean he doesn't do ghosts? He's a d -" she had to stop herself. "He's afraid of ghosts?"

"He won't even watch scary movies about ghosts. Amityville Horror, Poltergeist, when we saw them when they came out, he wouldn't sleep for a week." Oh, this was too good. Anthony Janthony Crowley was afraid of something. And so afraid of it, he didn't sleep because of it; his favorite past-time!

"Those aren't even scary, though."

"Oh, but they were terrifying when they came out," Rebecca said.

Just then, Crowley finally came inside and came to a dead stop when he saw the strange woman sitting at the kitchen table. "Er, hello?"

"Anthony, there you are!" Aziraphale said.

"Hi, I'm Rebecca Schwartz." Rebecca smiled and shook Crowley's hand. His skin, for once, was warm.

"She's our neighbor," Eve added. She gestured for Crowley to lean down, instead, he sat down next to her. "What did you do out there, sleep in the grass?" She ruffled the grass out of his hair.

Rebecca looked between Eve and Crowley and Aziraphale. "Sorry if this sounds rude, but, how is it that Eve looks so much like the both of you? Did you have a surrogate?"

"Eve's adopted," Crowley answered. "We just got lucky."

"Sometimes we believe she was sent to us for a reason," Aziraphale added.

"Aw, that's so sweet," Rebecca said. Eve just smiled and took a sip of her tea. So, the hole digs deeper.

After an hour or so, Rebecca left to go home. She said she needed to make sure Zachary didn't burn the house down. It had taken Crowley a while not to be so rigid around her, but once she started asking about what he was going to plant in the garden, he loosened up.

"I thought to lie was a sin," Eve said as she poured food into Abel's bowl. He had spent the day sniffing out every inch of their five-acre property and built up an appetite.

"What do you mean?" Crowley asked.

"You lied to Rebecca about our family."

"Well, dear, I wouldn't so much call it a lie. It was more... twisting the truth." Aziraphale said.

"That's lying by omission."

"Listen, kiddo," Crowley said. "Saying we adopted you at an earlier age is a lot easier than explaining that you showed up on our doorstep one day to find a book for your dissertation and we just decided to take you in as our own because that could sound like kidnapping."

"I don't have a problem with it. I'm just saying, you need to come up with a consistent backstory that we need to stick by. First would be why we all have different last names." Fell, Crowley, Thompson, someone was bound to ask why.

"Crowley and I aren't married, dear. And so, we don't have a common last name to share."

"And even adopted kids come with their old last names. Just say you kept yours." Crowley shrugged. "Unless you want to take one of our last names?" Evelyn Fell. Evelyn Crowley. No, none of them sounded right. Plus, that's a lot of paperwork.

"Not like anything else about our family is completely orthodox, anyway."

Despite Eve's protests, Crowley and Aziraphale insisted on helping her finish the house. She gave them small jobs to do, like painting or regrouting some tile in her bathroom.

Eve finally finished building the bookshelves and the window seat in Aziraphale's study and painted the remaining wall space a warm yellow ochre color. Aziraphale was more than eager to start unpacking his beloved books.

Crowley had gone out and bought seeds for his garden. He planted lavender and rose bushes, Forget-Me-Nots and daisies, and sunflowers for Eve since they were her favorite. He planted tomatoes, berries, carrots, potatoes, lots of greens. Along the south edge of the property, he planted fruit trees: of course, apple, cherry, plums, and even pears, because once Aziraphale said he liked them.

Eve built the bench swing for the back porch, and Aziraphale would sit out there reading a book while Crowley toiled away in the garden. She also tied a swing to the beech tree out back. It was just an extra piece of wood she had on a rope, but it was nice.

They had also finally gone grocery shopping, as well as furniture shopping. The sofa in the living room was perhaps the plushest sofa Eve had ever seen. It was as deep as it was long and looked more like an elongated bed if you squinted hard enough. There wasn't even any reason to get a sectional with a chase. But, it did match Aziraphale's armchair and the rest of the room. The coffee table they got also had shelf storage underneath which was filled with— you guessed it— Aziraphale's books. Most of Crowley's plants found their home in the sitting room, as did Aziraphale's gramophone in the corner.

Of course, Eve had to put her own touches on it: a television. She had thought it was a good idea at first until she hooked up the Firestick and Aziraphale got the hang of using the remote. Then, at any given time, Aziraphale was melting his brain trying to catch up on every single show he had missed while stubbornly refusing to watch television. He'd even have it on whilst he read. Multitasking, he said.

The dining room table they got was an antique. It was long, fit eight people, and Aziraphale and eve adorned it nicely in the dining room. They put a table cloth and runner on, with a centerpiece made of the wildflowers from the garden and set the table with fancy napkins. And then they never touched it. They ate at the kitchen table, it was much more intimate and informal.

Eve's bathroom and bedroom were last of course. She'd manage to save the clawfoot tub in her bathroom and then connect a shower head to the plumbing and add a shower curtain rod. She designed her bathroom with a sea turtle theme and painted the walls aqua.

She finally found a bed frame while they were antiquing, and a vanity. She could finally unpack all of her things: her clothes, her records, her own books, her paints, and sketchbooks, and place them on shelves and display them. She built herself a window seat against the bay window and made it cozy with decorative pillows. She hung twinkle lights on the wall and ceiling around her bed. Her bedding was navy blue and pink and Abel's doggie bed was placed right next to her bed, even though he ended up jumping up and sleeping at the foot of her bed at night anyway.

It was the first bedroom Eve could call her own in a long time. It reflected her and served as her own little sanctuary. She plopped down on her bed and took a deep breath. She could finally take a break from working on the house. Everything that absolutely needed to be done for them to live comfortably was finished. All that was left was cosmetic stuff. Unfortunately, it had caught up to her.

She'd worked all day and went to sleep at night too tired to think about the pain. But now that she finally relaxed, her feet throbbed, her back ached, and her hands cramped up. Her whole body went stiff.

"Eve!" Crowley called for her.

"Up here!" She answered back. "I can't move!"

In a flash, Crowley was up the stairs and in her room. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Everything hurts." She groaned.

"Oh, poor darling." Crowley tutted and touched her shoulder. It felt like a warm wave washed over her and all of her aches and pains were gone.

She sat up, blinking. "How'd you do that?"

"All those miracles and this is the one you question?"

"Didn't know demons could do miracles like that. Isn't healing more of an Angelic thing?"

Crowley flinched slightly. "Er, well I suppose I've always been able to do that." He looked around her room. "Finally finished it then huh?"

"Yes, well, other things fell higher on the list."

"Eve, you've been sleeping on the sofa since we got here."

"And now we have a super comfy sofa!"

"Alright, that's true. Do you keep those lights on all the time?" He gestured towards her twinkle lights; she nodded. "Even at night?" Another nod. "Eve, darling, are you… afraid of the dark?" He smirked.

"No!" Her cheeks grew pink. "Maybe…"

Crowley tried his best not to laugh. He picked up her stuffed turtle. "But you have Abel and what's-his-name to protect you."

She snatched it from him. "Marvin. Really, you are the worst with names. What did you need, anyway?"

"Hm? Oh! Yeah, we're taking a trip up to Tadfield this weekend."

"What for?"

"Anathema just called."

"The witch? Is everything alright?"

"Yes. She's getting married."


	11. A Trip to Tadfield

"Oh, it'll be so nice to see everyone again. Anathema, Newton, the children." Aziraphale said. They were in the Bentley on the way to Tadfield.

"Ah, yes, Adam, the girl, the boy... and the _other_ boy."

"Pepper, Adam, and Wensleydale, Dad. Geez, I've never met them and even _I_ know their names."

"I know them, just takes a while to remember them! 6000 years, Eve, you don't remember each person's name."

Eve tutted her tongue. "What did Anathema say when she called anyway? Doesn't sound like a wedding we're going to."

"No, she called to tell us she and Newt were engaged," Aziraphale said. "And she invited us to Tadfield to come visit."

Eve nodded in understanding. Abel was asleep in her lap. Crowley said Adam had a dog— a former hellhound— but a dog nonetheless, so she'd figured it'd be good for Abel to play with another dog. She leaned her head up against the window and began to doze off.

Crowley glanced back at her through the rear-view mirror. "I don't know how you can sleep in the car, darling. Even _I_ know I drive pretty reckless."

"Doesn't bother me so much. If my eyes are closed, I can't see just how fast you're actually driving."

"Maybe _you_ should try that, Angel," Crowley smirked and nudged Aziraphale, which only earned him a sideways glance.

"You're going over 100 mph, Crowley."

"There's no one else on this road! And the speedometer goes that high for a reason, I'm gonna use it!" He crept the needle a little higher.

"_Crowley!_ Honestly, if _we_ get discorporated, that's one thing, but your _human daughter_ is in the back seat!"

"Angel, I _know_ that. I _also_ know that she's got a seatbelt on and she's fast asleep anyway."

Aziraphale turned in his seat. Sure enough, Eve was asleep.

Aziraphale woke her up when they pulled up in front of Jasmine Cottage. The flowers were in full bloom and enveloped the cottage in bright bursts of color.

Anathema was not what Eve was expecting. Shamefully, she'd admit that she expected Anathema to be more like Lydia Deetz from _Beetlejuice_, living in an old Second Empire mansion with lightning striking overhead and a black cat perched on her front step.

But no. Jasmine Cottage was pleasant and no sign of any black cats and not a cloud in the sky. Anathema was simple and pretty. She wore a long shirt and blouse that aligned more with Aziraphale's sense of style. The only thing that perhaps looked "witchy" about her was her glasses; they were round like Harry Potter's but much more fashionable.

She smiled when she saw Aziraphale and Crowley, even hugged Aziraphale, but smiled even wider when she met Eve. "And you must be Evelyn. Aziraphale wouldn't stop talking about you on the phone."

Eve blushed. "He— and Crowley— have told me all about you, too. You, Newt, the kids. I got a crash course of 6000 years. Hey, why's the car say 'Dick Turpin?'"

Anathema groaned, "Don't ask," while Newt snickered behind her.

Newt, however, was just as Eve imagined him. Dorky and definitely looked like he dealt with computers, except, he was pretty bad at computers. He also looked like the type to watch Doctor Who. She was correct in that accusation.

They sat in the sitting room and Anathema, Newt, Aziraphale, and Crowley all caught up with one another. Newt finally did get a job that didn't require him to use computers or hunt witches: he was a Postman. Anathema worked in a library, which of course, Aziraphale gushed over.

Anathema was actually the one to propose to Newt. "I don't know if Agnes ever wrote about what happens between us and our future, but I think we should write our future ourselves. Do you want to get married?" She asked him one day, nonchalantly, while they had tea in the garden. Newt gave her his grandmother's ring the next day. It was a beautiful ring; elegant and simple, and somehow looked like it was made for Anathema.

"I'm surprised we're tying the knot before you two," Newt said to Crowley and Aziraphale.

"Here, we thought you had already been together when we first met you," Anathema added. Crowley and Aziraphale's cheeks went dark while Eve smirked.

"Took them 6000 years to finally admit to one another that they were in love." She said.

"And what finally did it?" Newt asked.

"She called us both idiot bastards..." Crowley and Aziraphale said at the same time.

Anathema made them tea while they waited for Adam to come over. He'd been out playing with his friends all morning and then went home for lunch before coming back to Jasmine Cottage. She knew Adam was excited to see his "godfathers" again. Adam occasionally talked about a phone call here or there or the occasional letter back and forth between them, but she had a feeling he didn't know about Eve yet.

When Aziraphale told her about Eve, of course, she was happy for them, but she was still suspicious, as had both Crowley and Aziraphale when Eve first came into their lives.

A girl named _Eve_ does not just coincidentally come into your life a year after you averted the Apocalypse almost started by a boy named _Adam_. Anathema was sure that the Universe or G-d or fate or whatever you believe in had a hand in it, but she couldn't be sure until she met Eve herself.

Anathema didn't feel the same uneasy way she did around Adam before she knew what he was, so she could cross "Antichrist" or "Second Coming" off of her list. That, and Eve had an aura.

Of course, Eve's aura wasn't a normal aura; why would it be?

Aziraphale's aura was almost blindingly bright and light blue shade and felt, well, heavenly.

Crowley's was a dark red shade and felt wrong, or devilish, even though she knew Crowley, who was perhaps the _worst_ demon ever.

She stared long and hard at Eve, who was sitting on the sofa in between her two parents, and watched her aura as it almost appeared to _suck_ energy from Aziraphale and Crowley and morph into a light purple glow around her. On top of that, there was a strange force coming from Eve's aura, almost like something was manifesting inside, but hadn't been discovered yet. It was something she had never seen in any human before, but she supposed just like an Angel and a Demon adopting an adult human, there was a first time for everything. Anathema just brushed it off and blamed it on the mixture of a demonic and angelic aura, which was already too much to wrack her brain around for one day.

Adam Young, now thirteen, lived his life post-Armaged-don't semi-normally. He and the Them still played together in Hogback Woods and Adam only took advantage of his abilities when they were convenient. Usually, he used them to make the games he made up for The Them interesting. He only did it enough so that not to attract attention to himself.

When Anathema told him that his unofficial Godparents were coming to visit, he and the Them were excited. They had only seen the Angel and Demon for a short period, and not under the best of circumstances, and they thought it was the coolest thing Adam had them as Godparents, although, the specifics of how Crowley and Aziraphale _became_ his Godparents weren't exactly clear. One minute they were helping him avert the Apocalypse, the next when he asked them who they were, they had answered, "Oh, we're your Godparents, we suppose."

And then Anathema told the Them that Crowley and Aziraphale now had a daughter, and their excitement blew through the roof.

_"Did they have a baby?" Brian asked. _

_ "Of course they didn't have a baby!" Pepper said. "They're _boys_!"_

_ "Apparently, from what Aziraphale told me, at least, Angels and Demons can choose to have whatever sex whenever they want, so I suppose if they really wanted to, they could?" Anathema poured them each a glass of lemonade. _

_ "Actually, that's pretty cool," Wensleydale said. _

_ "But no," Anathema continued. "They didn't have a baby. She's adopted."_

_ "Is She our age?" asked Adam. _

_ Anathema shook her head, "I think she's closer to my age."_

_ "How can they adopt an adult, though? I thought you could only adopt someone who was a kid?" Pepper asked. _

_ "I don't think they _officially_ adopted her. From what it sounds like, she just sorta became a part of their lives, and now they have their own chosen family."_

_ "Kinda like us!" Brian chirped in. _

_ "Yeah," Anathema smiled. "Sorta like us."_

_ "Then we shall ask her to hang out with us when she comes," Adam didn't so much as suggest than a declaration. _

So Adam rushed over to Jasmine Cottage with Dog after he had lunch at his own house. When he saw Crowley's Bentley, he beamed, and ran up to the door and let himself in.

Dog immediately ran through the house to the sitting room to Abel and barked, but not in a hostile, malicious way. No, he was bouncing and barking, wanting to play. But Abel, of course, didn't understand and jumped into Eve's arms.

"Oh!" She giggled. "It's okay, Abel."

"Sorry! Sorry!" Adam came running in. "He's just excited. Dog, heel!" Dog retreated to Adam's side and sat at his feet.

"Adam, my dear boy, look how you've grown!"

"I'm taller than my dad now!" Adam beamed.

"That's not hard..." Crowley mumbled into his cup of tea. It went unheard by Adam, but not by Aziraphale, who glared sideways at him.

"Hi, I'm -" Eve stood and walked over to Adam.

"- Eve." He finishes her sentence. "Er, Anathema told me about you."

"Which I heard from Aziraphale," Anathema added.

"Oh geez." Eve blushed. "Well, it's not like Dad and Zira haven't told me _all_ about you, either. But, it's finally nice to meet you." When they shook hands, a spark went through their fingertips and they both gasped and pulled back. Eve flexed her hand, "Sorry, must've been static from the -"

"- rug?"

"Yeah."

The interaction seemed normal to any, especially since the room was filled with an oblivious Angel, Demon, and wannabe computer engineer. But to Anathema, she could see that Eve's aura shown brightly in the absence of Adam's. It was still pulling from Aziraphale and Crowley's, but now, with Adam, something about it shifted, and Anathema couldn't quite figure it out. It was like it became brighter, whether it was to make up for the lack of Adam's or to fight back against his aura or lack-thereof, she didn't know, either, and it was starting to drive her insane. Whatever it was, she had to come to the conclusion that it wasn't _purely_ human. It wasn't out of the ordinary, she supposed. It was Aziraphale and Crowley, and she couldn't see them adopting just a _regular_ human.

"My friends will be back from lunch soon. Do you want to come play?"

_Play? When was the last time I played?_ "Er…" She gave a questioning look to Aziraphale.

"Go on, dear. We'll be here."

She turned back to Adam and shrugged. "Okay?"

"Wicked." He grinned and grabbed her hand and led her out of Jasmine Cottage, with Dog and Abel tailing behind them.

Anathema turned to Aziraphale and Crowley when the two left. "So, what _is_ Eve?"

"Whatever do you mean, dear?"

"What is she? Her aura isn't human so what is - ... she?" Aziraphale and Crowley were staring wide-eyed at her, meaning what she was telling them was complete news to them. Oops.

"Anathema," Crowley said. "Eve isn't _anything_. She's human."

"I could be wrong. I was wrong about Adam's aura, wasn't I?"

"You said Adam didn't _have_ an aura! What does Eve's look like to you?" Aziraphale was starting to sound distressed.

"It looks like a mixture of both of yours. But both of your auras aren't human, _either_. It could just be from being around you for so long but... there is a certain energy about her..."

"I've never heard of something like that happening... A human absorbing supernatural... _whatever_!"

"No situation like this has ever occurred, dear," Aziraphale told him. "An Angel and a Demon have never adopted a human together before. I know she's adopted some of our _mannerisms_ but... I mean, you must admit, Crowley, she _is_ eerily similar to us."

"May I just say," Newt, bless him, had been sitting patiently, listening to the three of them speak on things he knew nothing about, "it's almost scary how much she looks like you. And she's not related to you at all. But she looks like the perfect mixture of you both."

Anathema nodded in agreement. "Something is going on, and maybe it has been since she was born, but somethings _not_ completely normal about her."

"Oh. Lovely."

On the way to Hogback Wood, Adam and Eve were having a much more relaxed conversation. Eve thought Adam would have had a million questions for her about living with Aziraphale and Crowley, but instead, he was interested in the more mundane things.

"Where did you live before?"

_London._

"What did you study in Uni?"

_Historic Preservation._

"What's that?"

_I work on old houses._

"Cool! What kind of dog is Abel?"

_A Beagle/Bassett Hound mix._

"Is that your real hair color?"

_ Yup._

Eve wanted to ask a few questions of her own, of course.

_Are you really the Antichrist?_

"Yep."

_And you have powers? _

"Yeah, but I don't use them for anything bad. Do you have powers?"

_ Nope. _

When they finally got to where they were going, Adam's friends were waiting for them. Pepper, Wensleydale, and Brian all introduced themselves to Eve and were much more interested in the fact that the Angel and Demon who they met the day of the apocalypse now had a daughter.

Before they could really bombard Eve with a million questions, Adam suggested they play a game.

"Adam comes up with all the _best_ games!" Pepper told Eve.

"What sort of games?" She asked.

Adam thought for a moment and then pointed at Eve. "You're... a Queen. No, a pirate. No, wait! A _pirate_ queen! Yes! And we're your pirate crew. And we have to..." he ran around their little fort, looking for something. It was an impressive fort, like something from a mystical children's book. He picked up a cardboard crown. "We have to retrieve your crown which has been stolen by sea monsters!" He placed the crown next to Abel and Dog, who were sitting together on a rock, having become quite acquainted with one another.

It had been a long time since Eve had played anything. Actually, she couldn't quite remember ever playing games like this. Adam and The Them, the name of their little group that Eve had learned, picked up on the game almost immediately. All Adam really explained was that the two-sentence plot and the game had begun. Eve had played Dungeons & Dragons once when she was in Uni, and even _that_ took an hour to explain the plot and the characters and the rules.

Eve tried her best to keep up with them, fighting nothing but air with sticks for swords, but she felt guilty. She was afraid she was putting a damper on their game, but they kept assuring her that she was doing just fine.

"Actually," Wensleydale started, "even though you're a Pirate Queen, you're _still_ a Queen, and Queens boss people around. So it wouldn't make _sense_ for you to fight when you can just order your crew to fight _for_ you."

"Ah, yes, right. Well, then I order you to fight for me, and to protect me and this ship!"

"Aye, aye, Queen Captain!" The Them saluted.

"Would it be Captain Queen?" Pepper asked.

"Or Captain Your Majesty?" Asked Brian.

"We can discuss this later when a giant sea monster isn't attacking our ship!" Eve called out when Dog had run over to their "ship" and started barking. The Them managed to "defeat" Dog, but they still had Abel to defeat, who was guarding the crown.

"You stand no chance, vile creature!" Adam pointed his "sword" at Abel, who wagged his tail and, thinking Adam wanted to play fetch, lunged for the stick.

"The beast has no fear!" Pepper yelled.

"Lure him away from the crown!" Eve said.

"That's it! Everyone, throw your swords! If the sea creature wants them so much, he can have them!" Adam ordered the crew and they all threw their swords in different directions. Abel, overwhelmed by all the sticks, ran back and forth between each one.

Pepper snatched the crown and held it up triumphantly, "For our Queen!"

"For our Queen!" The Them repeated.

The game ended with a re-coronation of sorts. Eve sat in a makeshift thrown and held a rock in one hand and a stick in another, with a blanket draped over her shoulders. Pepper, Brian, and Wensleydale all held out their "swords" to make a tunnel as Adam placed the crown on top of Eve's head. "Long live the Queen!"

"Long live the Queen!" The Them repeated.

"I couldn't have done it without my loyal crew, who fought _so_ bravely for me!" Eve said.

They all cheered, and that was the end. They put down their props and Adam said, "We should be heading back soon. Anathema and Newt invited us over for dinner."

Dinner was set up in the Jasmine Cottage garden. It was a lovely evening, and The Them were excited to see Aziraphale and Crowley again.

"So, what is Heaven and Hell up to nowadays?" Pepper asked.

Crowley shrugged. "Wouldn't know."

"We retired, dear," Aziraphale added.

"And then you got married and adopted Eve?" Brian asked.

"We're not married," Aziraphale said.

"Do you still live in that bookshop?" Adam asked.

"No, my dear boy. We moved to the South Downs. We live on the beach."

"Wicked! Do you live near Brighton?"

"About an hour away," Eve answered.

"Can we come to visit before the summer ends? Please? _Please_, Uncle Aziraphale?"

"I don't have a problem with it." He said. "Crowley?"

Crowley shrugged. "Sure, don't see why not."

You would have thought The Them has won the lottery.

Anathema cleated her throat from her place at the table. Obviously, she had something to say to everyone that she would have invited them all over. "Speaking of 'married,' I wanted— Newt and I— wanted to ask you all something." Once she saw that she had everyone's attention, she continued.

"Newt and I were just going to go and get the papers signed and not doing the whole big wedding thing. But, after doing some thinking..."

"And Aziraphale berating us," Newt added.

"_And_ Aziraphale agreeing to officiate the wedding. But, we've decided that maybe a wedding with all of our friends is actually a better idea. You know, with family and friends and such. So... we wanted to ask you all to be in the wedding party."

Newt shrugged, "I don't really have any friends my age, so I suppose three teenage boys are better than nothing."

"And Pepper, of course. And, Eve, I actually wanted to ask you if you'd be my maid of honor?"

Eve nearly choked on her food. "Wait, _really?_" She was honored, but technically, she had just met Anathema in person.

Anathema nodded. "Yeah, I mean, why not? Besides, I have no idea how to plan a wedding."

"Ah." Eve nodded. "Okay, yes, I got you." Eve grinned. "I'd be honored to, Anathema. As long as you don't make me wear some gaudy gown."

"Yeah, no bows!" Pepper said.

"Or poofy sleeves!" Eve added.

Anathema looked relieved. One of the main reasons she didn't want a big wedding is because, well, she didn't really have any friends. At least, friends her age. The Them were great, but she felt more like a caregiver when they were around. And she loved Aziraphale and Crowley, but couldn't really "hang out" with them. But now that Eve was around, and she was closer to Anathema's age, she hoped she could have someone to call a friend.

And Anathema really really didn't know the first thing about planning weddings.

And then she turned to Crowley, and her expression turned a bit more serious. "Crowley, I wanted to ask... Well, I wanted to ask you if you'd, you know, give me away?"

Crowley blinked a few times from behind his glasses. "_Me?_" Anathema nodded. "A - are you sure?"

"That's if you want to, of course."

Eve rarely saw her dad blush. She had seen it a few times when Aziraphale did anything, but usually, he was good at hiding it. Well, he usually ran away and Aziraphale would just stand there chuckling. But with nowhere to run to, Crowley was left sitting there, turning red as a beet, speechless. Aziraphale nudged him in the side and Crowley sputtered out a, "Y - yes, of course, I will, Anathema."

"Oh,_ thank you_, Crowley." Anathema's shoulders drooped with relief.

"Mhm." Crowley was still in a bit of a state of complete shock. He never thought he'd have his Angel, he never thought he'd ever had a daughter, or actual friends, or being asked to give someone away...

He had a family now and it was giving him whiplash.

"So, since you're not getting married right away, when did you think about having it?" Adam asked.

"We were thinking of Autumn," Newt said.

"Where would you have it?" Pepper asked.

Anathema shrugged. "I'll help you find the perfect place," Eve told her.

"Can Dog and Abel be in the wedding too?" Adam asked.

Anathema sighed. "Sure, Adam. I'm sure there's something we could have them do."

"Ring Bearers but Ring Dogs?" Aziraphale suggested.

Crowley finally came out of his own spiraling thoughts to roll his eyes. "Angel, _really_..."

Newt snorted. "I think it's brilliant."

"They could wear bow ties!" Adam and Eve said at the same time.

"Oh, dear." Newt looked at Anathema. He honestly had expected her to look like the world was ending again. As long as he had known her, she had been so anal about certain things and stuck to the script. It had taken so long to get her to just live a little after the Apocalypse and destroying Agnes' second prophecy book. He didn't know what she was thinking when she suggested that the kids be in the wedding in the first place. Not that he cared, he adored the kids, but he knew Anathema would want full control over everything and want it to be perfect. But dogs being in the ceremony, he thought for sure would be the last straw.

But it wasn't. Anathema was laughing along with them and looked like she was actually letting loose for once. Maybe she could relax and actually enjoy planning the wedding. Maybe that's why she asked Eve. Eve, who hopefully could tell Anathema to just chill out and let someone else handle it all for once. Eve, who, unlike Anathema, lived a much carefree life when it came to structure. Yeah, Crowley and Aziraphale were good for Anathema. Eve would be good for Anathema. For both of them, actually, because now finally Eve could have a friend.

Crowley, Aziraphale, Eve, and Abel left that night. They said goodbye to everyone. Eve promised Anathema she'd be back soon to start planning. And she promised The Them that she would take them to Brighton before the summer ended.

Eve was fast asleep within minutes of the car ride, and Aziraphale and Crowley quietly spoke about what to do about the whole, "Eve-might-not-be-human" situation. Either way, they decided, she was still their daughter, but they had to get to the bottom of _who_ she was exactly. But it would just have to wait.


End file.
